POMEGRANATE JELLY DESSERT

One may, with good reason, expect the world to stop when chocolate eating competitions in the kitchen at five in the morning, Italian cooking classes with a vegan twist, pain au chocolat engineering works and other amazing adventures to that effect abruptly cease until further notice, leaving you with a number of bruises on miscellaneous parts of your body, Hamlet’s dilemmas over your toothbrush, a smelly stuffed raccoon the size of a child as a door stop and almost socially acceptable eating habits.

However, surprisingly, New Wave songs keep playing and Italian Christmas cakes again will find their way to you and cupboards WITH FUCKALL IN IT sit untouched in the middle of the office and the world carries on turning; and just as surprisingly, you may realise that you kind of see some beauty in it, be it in the form of smiley hungry people, or tailored shopping advice, or punk department stores with breath-taking vintage ceilings and coconut cream, or Christmas presents coming all the way from China; so you don’t mind strolling along for a little while; and if you slip or stumble or don't win the lottery on the way, you’ve got a brand new Italian moka pot and two whole jars of the most delicious festive fruity dessert all to yourself; and in the unlikely event that no one else picks you up, they will; and they'll hold your hand and carry your bags and walk on with you.

POMEGRANATE JELLY DESSERT
with whipped cream

400ml (2 cups + 2 tablespoons) pomegranate juice

2 teaspoons agar agar

60g (1/4 cup) unrefined golden caster sugar

Whipped cream:

400ml (1 can) coconut cream, refrigerated overnight

60g (1/4 cup) icing sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place pomegranate juice in a small pan and stir in the agar agar until completely dissolved. Add sugar and place on a low heat. Bring to a simmer and leave for about 3 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

Pour the mixture into glasses or jars and place in the fridge for two hours.

For the whipped cream, in a bowl combine the solidified coconut fat from the can of coconut cream with the icing sugar and whisk until it’s all nice and frothy. Fold in the vanilla extract and whisk again until combined.

Just before serving, spoon or pipe the whipped cream into each glass and garnish with pomegranate arils if you like.