Rosella flower and plum champagne compote

A fruity accompaniment to a good vanilla ice-cream and sponge cake, infused with flavours of native plums and rosella flowers, made for summer.

Credit: On Country Kitchen

• serves

  6

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 250 ml (1 cup) Champagne or sparkling white wine 
• 2 tsp Illawarra plum powder (see notes)
• 2 tsp Davidson plum powder (see notes)
• 1½ cups rosella flowers in heavy syrup (see notes)
• 8 frozen rosella flowers
• 375 g strawberries, hulled and sliced 
• 125 g fresh blueberries 
• 60 g fresh raspberries 
• butter sponge dipped in chocolate (optional)
• vanilla ice-cream or cream, to serve 

Chilling time: 3-4 hours

Instructions

1. Place the Champagne and plum powders in a saucepan over medium heat. Gently heat, then add the rosella flowers in syrup and the frozen rosella flowers and bring to a gentle boil. Gently stir in the strawberries and blueberries and return to a gentle boil. Stir in the raspberries and remove from the heat. Stand until cool, then refrigerate until chilled. 

2. Serve with butter sponge and vanilla ice cream or with a big dollop of thick cream. 

Notes

• Made from dried native plums, the powders are available online from native food stores. 

• Rosella flowers, also known as hibiscus flowers are available in syrup from most large supermarkets or online from native food stores.

Catch Mark Olive in the second season of On Country Kitchen, Wednesdays 7:30 on NITV from 23 October to 18 December, or on SBS On Demand.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.