Glorious Sweet Violet Jelly & Cheesecake

It may seem a bit odd- a whole lot of pictures of flowers in a food blog, but truly it is not. I've come to believe that the presence of violets in the landscape redeems winter beautifully, not to mention that they are the loveliest of medicines. I have posted here about making violet honey syrup- a resource we would now never be without. We have both been irritated by the abundant drenching of the whole province with pine pollen over the last month & heavily relied on the violet honey syrup to get us through the night. It is amazing for soothing a cough- instantly! 

There are several places that we know we can gather wild violets locally: Ellis Wallace road, Keirunga valley- under the oaks & at the top of the Karituwhenua walkway off Te Mata road in Havelock North 

 If you are picking for making violet syrup it's quicker to pull the flowers rather making a bunch of them.

 Every part of the gathering process is a joy- the heady fragrance,

 the visit to the land & the blessing that the plants offer as we gather them with so much respect & gratitude.

And of course, you may find other treasures along the way.

 Violets come in so many pretty hues- all are valuable.

 As long as you have a good proportion of purple the colour comes out much the same.

The syrup, once made, is best stored in small jars in the freezer, but since Rob still had a particularly niggly cough I thought that little jellies might be useful. Useful- they are amazing! 

 I simply set the syrup with a good amount of gelatine. Left uncovered in a little dish in the fridge it lasts for ages or until it disappears!

 After making the violet jelly I wondered what a little cheesecake might be like.
I decided to use a simple base of soft dates & nuts- a mix of flaked almonds, cashews & home shelled walnuts. Didn't take long to come together in my little food processor. I used quite a few dates so I didn't need to add any other sweetening. I added the juice of half a lemon & a tbsp of melted coconut oil & it set to a lovely texture.

 I used a 400ml jar of Raglan blackcurrant & vanilla coconut yoghurt as the middle layer, set with a large dsp of gelatine dissolved in a little juice or water. It's a good idea to mix in some yoghurt  to the gelatine before adding to the rest. Mine started to set too quickly in the cold yoghurt.

The violet honey syrup was also set with a lovely organic gelatine in the same way.

The flavours are just delicious together.

It's amazing how many edible winter flowers that there are- violets, grape hyacinths, forget-me-nots, jasmine & sweet alyssum look lovely with the violet cheesecake.

The other winter flower that is just delicious & works nicely with violets & lemon (or lime) to make an amazing natural fizzy drink is magnolia. You can find how to make Fee just here. 

Love Katie xx