Floral jelly preserve

Capture the taste of any edible flower by using it to flavour a jelly preserve or sweet syrup. This jelly, loosely based on Diana Henry’s original recipe for lavender or herb flowers (such as rosemary) is similar to quince jelly – a delicious accompaniment served with a cheeseboard or meat dishes. Preparing it requires a little effort, but the result is worth it (a jar of this preserve makes for a special gift). Because it might be tricky to track down pectin in the platteland, I chose to use apples in this recipe, as they supply the necessary pectin.

Makes 7 jars of 250g each Preparation time 30 minutes Cooking time 1½ hours plus overnight draining • 1,5kg apples, cut into chunks, including

skin and seeds • 2 cups (500ml) honeysuckle flowers, all the green pieces removed (keep only the petals and tubes containing the nectar) • 650ml apple-cider vinegar • 7 sprigs pineapple-sage flowers • approximately 650g sugar (see method – you need 450g sugar for every 600ml of liquid)

This is how

Cover the apple chunks and honeysuckle flowers with 750ml water. Heat to boiling point, reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 45 minutes. When the apple is soft, add the vinegar and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes.

Drape a piece of cheesecloth over a large saucepan and turn the apples out onto the cheesecloth. Tie together the corners and hook the sack over a tap to suspend it over the saucepan, or push a wooden spoon through the knot in the cheesecloth so that the sack can be suspended over the saucepan (there should be a gap of at least