Sakura Jelly

Almost like a painting: Sakura flowers set in a clear jelly (made with the pink soaking liquid of the sakura) with a base of dark cherry mousse.

The Sakura Jelly I'm posting for the Royal Selangor PewterJelliriffic! challenge towards breast cancer awareness and aid for the Breast Cancer Welfare Association today was one of the first jellies I made before the challenge. I came across the most beautiful Swiss roll here and wanted to get hold of sakura no shio zuke, pickled sakura flowers, online but received a reply from rakuten.com that they don't ship overseas anymore.

Again, Yo was my friend indeed because she arranged for her Japanese colleague Sumiko to get me the flowers from Osaka a week after my SOS; how great is that. Thanks, Yo and Sumiko!

Every spring, the Japanese practice the custom of hanami, picnicking under the blooming sakura trees,to appreciate the beautiful but ephemeral blooms which symbolize the beauty and briefness of life.Pickled with plum vinegar and salt,sakurano shio zuke flowers are used to make snacks such as mochi,jellies and buns.Sakurayuis pickledsakura tea, drunk during weddings because sakura, being a spring flower, represents a new beginning.The pickled flowers have the flavor of umeboshi, pickled plums, and are extremely salty. I've had flowers that tasted salty even after being soaked for a week!

How do the flowers taste? If you love salted dried plums (huamei in Chinese), you'll love the flavor of sakura no shio zuke but if you've not eaten umeboshi or ! the Chin ese suanmei or huamei, you might find the flavor kind of unusual, especially in a jelly.

I first made the sakura jellies weeks ago with a white chocolate mousse base and loved the result: salty clear jelly on top and sweet white chocolate mousse at the bottom. This afternoon, I made a sakura jelly with dark cherry mousse at the base.I kept the top clear layer salty-sweet by using some of the water from soaking the flowers and I made the mousse quite sweet to balance the saltiness of the top layer.I really love this jelly for all its beauty and complexity of flavors. I think I may be sakura no shio zuke crazy. I know what you are saying, that I can get the same flavor from huamei or xenmei but salted plums aren't pretty at all. The sakura is and thanks to the inventiveness of the Japanese, the flavor and beauty of the sakura can still be appreciated long after their brief season has gone.


Pickled sakura flowers.




A single sakura blossoms in clear jelly on a base of white chocolate mousse.


Sakura Jelly
2 to 3 salted sakura
--Rinse and soak in warm water for 3 to 4 hours. Rinse and soak again for 1 hour. Keep the water.

Top layer:
150 ml water from soaking the salted sakura
1/2 t konyakku p! owder
a pinch of citric acid
1 tsp of caster sugar (more if you prefer)
1) Mix the konyakku powder, citric acid and sugar together well.
2) Put the water into a small pot and sprinkle the konyakku mixture over the water, stirring well. Heat undeer low flame until all the sugar is dissolved and the water becomes clear instead of cloudy.
3) Rinse and place a Nick Munro mould into a mug. Pour half the konyakku jelly into the mould, drop the flowers in (use a wooden skewer to hang them). Wait until the jelly is half-set before pouring the remaining jelly in. You will have to re-heat the remaining jelly because it can gel quickly. Cool and work on the nest layer.

Cherry Mousse Layer:
1/2 tsp gelatine powder
50 ml cherry liquid (from canned dark cherries)
5 dark cherries, drained on kitchen paper
2 tsp caster sugar
70 ml dairy whipping cream
1) Mix the gelatine powder with the sugar and sprinkle over the cherry liquid in a small pot. Heat and stir to dissolve the sugar and gelatine. When cool, chill it until it's nearly syrupy.
2) Arrange the cherries on the clear layer.
3) Whip the cream until stiff, then whisk in the cherry liquid and pour the mousse over the clear layer. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours.

White Chocolate Mousse Layer:
1/2 t gelatine powder
50 ml water
50 gm white chocolate melts, melted
70 ml dairy whipping cream

1) Mix the gelatine powder with the sugar and sprinkle over the water in a small pot. Heat and stir to dissolve the sugar and gelatine. When cool, mix the melted choc in. Chill slightly.
2) Whip the cream until stiff, then whisk in the choc-gelatine mixture and pour the mousse over the clear layer. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours.