Kisiel – Red Fruits

• There is no good translation of kisiel into English.
• I remember my mother making this dessert in the summer time.
• She made it with red fruits from our garden: strawberries, raspberries and redcurrants.
• I now know that this is a very old dessert and would have originally been made with oat or millet starch.
• This dessert was made before the introduction of gelatine and is a set dessert but not as set as a jelly.
• My mother used potato starch or cornflour if she could not get that.
• I used frozen raspberries and sour cherries.
• Serve kisiel chilled.

Ingredients

• 400g red berries
• 350 ml water
• 50g potato flour
• 80g granulated sugar (less if your fruit is very ripe and sweet)
  

Method

• If necessary, remove any stalks and such from the fruit.
• Place the fruit in a saucepan and add the water.
• Bring to the boil and then simmer gently until the fruit has fallen apart.
• Use a stick blender to turn the liquid into a purée if necessary.
• You can sieve the liquid – optional.
• Add the sugar and bring to the boil then take it off the heat.
• Mix the potato flour with 3 tablespoons of cold water to get a paste.
• Add the cornflour to the fruit mixture.
• Heat gently, stirring all the time until the mixture thickens.
• Pour into individual serving glasses or into a large serving bowl.
• The kisiel looks best in a glass dish.
• Chill before serving.