Strawberry and lemon myrtle jelly cake

Jo Barrett is a chef, co-founder of Wildpie and the author of Sustain. She is a food editor of The Saturday Paper.

Credit: Photography by Earl Carter.

What is it about jelly that’s so alluring?

In visual media, a wobbling motion adds a sense of life, movement or humour.

In music, the wobble triggers deep somatic and auditory pleasure, partly because of the visceral, vibrating quality that you feel deep in your chest.

In food, a gentle jiggle often signals that a food is soft, safe, moist and freshly prepared. It’s a sign of culinary finesse.

Jelly seems to blur boundaries between structure and chaos. One too many shakes and it could all fall apart. It’s also just funny.

I recently had my young nephews staying with me. As soon as I mentioned making jelly, screens were down and they were at attention at the kitchen bench. I think this intrigue continues into adulthood, but we graduate to fancier terminology and grown-up desserts such as panna cotta.

This jelly cake will satisfy both the adult and the child in you. It has a jelly top and panna cotta bottom and is impressive but also deceptively simple.

Flavours can be substituted to match the season – rosé and strawberries or pinot and cherry for spring and summer, riesling and pear moving into autumn and maybe apple cider and rhubarb in winter. The combinations are limitless, just like the jiggle.

Ingredients

Time: 20 minutes preparation + cooking + 2 hours for the jelly to set

1 punnet of strawberries, hulled
120g sugar
175g water
2.5 gelatine sheets, titanium strength
150g rosé
1 punnet strawberries (3-4 strawberries for layer, the rest to serve)
350g milk
400g cream
1 lemon, zested
150g sugar
¼ tsp ground lemon myrtle
4 gelatine sheets, titanium strength

Method

Lightly spray a non-stick, 20-centimetre bundt tin, cake tin or jelly mould with oil. Set aside.
Place the hulled strawberries, sugar and water into a small pot over a medium heat and gently simmer for five minutes until the liquid turns pink.
Bloom the gelatine sheets by submerging them in cold water for two minutes until they begin to soften.
Add the rosé to the strawberry syrup and simmer for a further five minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.
Squeeze the excess water from the bloomed gelatine sheets, stir and dissolve them into the strawberry syrup.
Strain the syrup through a fine sieve into a jug, then pour it into the greased tin or mould. Refrigerate until set firm. This will take about two hours.
Once the strawberry layer is set, thinly slice across three to four strawberries and spread them over the jelly in a single layer. Allow a three-millimetre border on each side to avoid contact with the sides of the mould. This will ensure the jelly cake layers stick together. Place the mould back into the fridge.
To make the panna cotta layer, heat the milk, cream, lemon zest, sugar and ground lemon myrtle to above 40 degrees or to when it’s too hot for your finger to touch. Do not simmer.
Bloom the second lot of gelatine as before. Squeeze away the excess water and then add the gelatine to the cream mixture. Stir to dissolve, then strain the mixture into a pouring jug. Cool until just warm to touch.
Gently pour the cream mixture over the strawberry jelly, being careful not to displace the sliced strawberries. Refrigerate until set (about two hours).
To release the cake from the tin, run a knife around the edges of the mould. Place a serving plate on top and then invert.
Decorate the cake by either piling some strawberries on top or around the sides.

This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on November 22, 2025 as "Strawberry and lemon myrtle jelly cake".

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Strawberry and lemon myrtle jelly cake

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