Home-made jellies with an intensity of flavor bear no relation to those rubbery just-add-boiling-water cubes in the supermarket packets. They're a wonderful way to use summer fruits, so experiment. In winter, make them with oranges.

Strawberry jelly

Serves 4

5 cups of hulled ripe strawberries
juice 1 lemon
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1 packet (tablespoon) powdered gelatin

Squeeze the lemon.

Add with the strawberries to a blender and whizz into a purée. Push it through a sieve. Put the purée into a muslin and squeeze over a large bowl to extract as many seeds as possible.

Measure 2 cups of the strawberry juice into a bowl. Add the sugar and beat until melted, adding more to sweeten if necessary.

Boil a little water, leave a minute to cool slightly, then add 1/4 cup to the gelatin powder in a small bowl. Allow to soak, then stir till thoroughly melted and add to the stawberry juice.

Pour into a mold or individual glasses, cool, then place in the refrigerator for several hours to set.

Unmold and serve. If it doesn't loosen, run the mold quickly under hot water or set very quickly into a bowl of hot water to release the jelly.