There’s no hiding that I’m a massive Marvel movies fan. Over the past 11 years, the quest for the infinity stones played an integral part in the Marvel cinematic universe. As a celebration of this, I’ve recreated the power stone – normally to be found on the fictional planet Morag (sorry, geek moment) – as a fruit pastille, using forest fruits and a herby, sugar coating. So that’s one stone found and just five more to go. Avengers assemble!
Forest fruit power stone pastilles
Fruit pastilles are easy to make, but be prepared to do some stirring and thermometer-watching. Use a bag of defrosted black forest fruits (blackberries, cherries, grapes and blackcurrants) or a seasonal glut.
Prep 15 min
Chill 2 hr+
Cook 15 min
Makes 16-20
300g black forest fruits, defrosted
190g caster sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
50g liquid glucose
10g pectin
For the basil sugar
1 large handful basil
90g caster sugar
Put the fruit in a saucepan with 80g of the caster sugar and a generous splash of water, and cook gently until the berries have softened. Blitz the fruit mixture in a food processor until smooth, or push it through a fine sieve.
Return the fruit puree to the pan set over a medium heat and mix in the lemon juice, liquid glucose, pectin and the rest of the caster sugar. Heat until the mixture reaches 105-115C (221-239F) on a thermometer (depending on how soft or hard you want the pastilles to be), stirring occasionally, so the mixture doesn’t burn.
Pour into a small, square baking tin lined with clingfilm, then leave to set in the fridge for a few hours.
Meanwhile, pulse the basil and sugar in a processor until combined and finely ground. Once the pastilles are set, cut into squares and toss each one in the herb sugar.
