Moscato Jellies

It's been a weird couple of months for me lately. You may have noticed that my posting frequency has decreased (sorry about that) but sometimes life just takes over and before you know it, the months have flown by and you've barely managed to get a post in. My usual late night blogging activities have been replaced by late nights at work, and caring for a family member of mine who is quite ill.

I like to think of myself as quite an optimistic person, and that even amongst all the crap there is still a silver lining. Although it's sad when someone is very sick, it has brought out the best in all our family and everyone has shown so much support, with relatives flying from all around the world to visit and help out where they can. And even though I've been swamped at work, I've been able to catch up with friends that I haven't seen in a while which is always cause for celebration.

On one such occasion, we had a girly night in for a friend's birthday, and I had been fortunate enough to have been sent two bottles of a new pink moscato courtesy of Bimbadgen Winery. It was the perfect reason to crack open a bottle to share with friends, who really enjoyed the pretty pink colour and the sweet, almost honey-like flavours in the moscato.

I saved the other bottle to make these bubbly moscato jellies to celebrate this humble little blog's 4th birthday. It's a pretty, slightly spritzy, and sweet treat that is very easy to make and it's a nice way to enjoy the fruity flavours of the moscato. I think I say this every year, but I'm always surprised that four years on, I'm still blogging (and I thought this was just a temporary procrastination tool!) and I'm still loving every moment of it, even though it's sometimes hard to get posts out on a regular basis.

To say thank you to all the readers of Penguin says Feed Me, I have three bottles of Bimbadgen Moscato to give away thanks to to Agent99 and Bimbadgen Winery. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post answering the following question:

"What's your favourite celebratory drink and why?"

Entries close at 11.59pm AEST, Sunday 7th July 2013. The winner will be selected by Sir D based on creativity and entertainment value. You may enter as many times as you like. Please enter a valid email address – this will only be used for the purpose of contacting the winners. Winners will be notified via email. Good luck!

Moscato Jellies
recipe adapted from A Table for Two

750ml Pink Moscato
120g caster sugar
2 tbsp gelatine powder
3 tbsp cold water
75g frozen berries

1. Place six glasses in the freezer for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the gelatine powder evenly over a bowl of cold water and allow to bloom.

2. Open the moscato, pour 250ml into a pan and reseal the bottle. Add the sugar and cook on low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, but without letting the mixture boil or get too hot. Remove from heat.

3. Add the gelatine to the mixture, whisking continuously until dissolved. Pour mixture into a jug and let it cool down completely. Pour the mixture evenly into the 6 glasses, and add then strawberries and blueberries. Quickly top with the remaining moscato, trying to minimise frothing. Return the glasses to the freezer for 20 minutes, then stir vigorously before transferring to the fridge to set overnight.