Vegan apple and pomegranate jelly

Silky-soft and lightly wobbly, this gorgeous ruby-coloured vegan pomegranate jelly is topped with crunchy pomegranate seeds for a taste and texture sensation! Enjoy this pomegranate jelly recipe at Rosh Hashanah or anytime you need an easy and impressive vegan dessert.

We have vegan friends joining us for dinner on Rosh Hashanah, so I was trying to come up with something vaguely interesting for dessert instead of the inevitable fruit salad and “sorry this has got eggs/cream in it.” 

I was musing on the possibilities afforded by pomegranates and apples, both of which are extremely traditional for the festival (see this epic list of recipes for more traditional food ideas), when I came up with the idea for this super-easy apple and pomegranate jelly.

Super seaweed

This fruity jelly is set with agar, which is produced from seaweed, and gives a lovely soft, silky texture. It is quite different to gelatine-set jelly – not as wobbly, but light, velvety smooth and quite delightful. Agar is much easier to use than gelatine too, in my experience. 

Taste testing

My daughter Kipper helped to test out the trial batch. She thoroughly enjoyed the jelly, giving us a rousing rendition of “Jelly on a plate” to show her approval.

However she wasn’t so keen on the pomegranate seeds sprinkled on the top. Personally, I loved the contrast between the soft sweet apple and pomegranate jelly and the crunch of exploding flavour that the pomegranate seeds provided. One option would be to let guests add their own pomegranate seeds at the table, that way everyone wins!

Vibrant colours

I really love the rich, ruby colour of this apple and pomegranate jelly. My original plan was to make the jelly in ramekins. However it seemed a shame to hide it away in something opaque. I urge you to make these jellies in glasses instead. See the photos if you need persuading!

You can make this jelly with all pomegranate juice, or with a mixture of pomegranate juice and apple juice, as in the recipe below. If you’re very lucky, you might find ready-mixed pomegranate-apple juice, which is easiest of all to use. You could also try spiking the jelly with a tablespoon or two of grenadine liqueur, if you had an all-adult audience. 

This makes four little apple and pomegranate jellies.

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📖 Recipe

Apple and pomegranate jellies

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Silky-soft and lightly wobbly, this gorgeous ruby-coloured vegan pomegranate jelly is topped with crunchy pomegranate seeds for a taste and texture sensation!

5 from 7 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Setting time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Jewish

Servings 4

Calories 81 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 250 ml apple juice
• 250 ml pomegranate juice
• 1½ tablespoon agar flakes
• Optional 1-2 tablespoon grenadine
• 3-4 tablespoon pomegranate seeds

Instructions

 

• 250 ml (1 cups) apple juice, 250 ml (1 cups) pomegranate juice
  Put the fruit juice in a saucepan and heat gently until quite warm but not yet boiling.
• 1½ tablespoon agar flakes
  Sprinkle the agar over the surface of the liquid and continue to heat without stirring, while the agar dissolves.
• Optional 1-2 tablespoon grenadine
  When the liquid starts to just bubble, stir in the agar, then simmer, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes until all the agar flakes have thoroughly dissolved. (If you are using grenadine, add it now.)
• Strain the hot jelly into four small serving glasses or dishes. Allow to cool slightly before transferring to the fridge until cold and set.
• 3-4 tablespoon pomegranate seeds
  Before serving, sprinkle a tablespoon or so of pomegranate seeds onto the top of each jelly.

Notes

You can substitute 500ml of apple and pomegranate juice for the individual juices if you can find it.

Nutrition information is given for jellies made without the optional grenadine.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Apple and pomegranate jellies

Amount per Serving

Calories

81

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

0.4

g

1

%

Saturated Fat

 

0.1

g

1

%

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

0.1

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

0.1

g

Sodium

 

11

mg

0

%

Potassium

 

255

mg

7

%

Carbohydrates

 

20

g

7

%

Fiber

 

1

g

4

%

Sugar

 

16

g

18

%

Protein

 

0.5

g

1

%

Vitamin A

 

1

IU

0

%

Vitamin C

 

2

mg

2

%

Calcium

 

25

mg

3

%

Iron

 

1

mg

6

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword apple, pomegranate

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More delicious Rosh Hashanah desserts

If you’d like more Rosh Hashanah dessert ideas, how about

• Moist and tasty vegan carrot cake with orange frosting
• Beautiful spiced apple blintzes
• Delicious muscat poached fruits with no-churn honey cake ice-cream
• Super cute little apple cupcakes
• Almost traditional sticky and spicy honey cake

I’m entering these delicious apple and pomegranate jellies into this month’s Treat Petite, hosted by Cakeyboi and The Baking Explorer. Since they’re super-fast to make (although you do have to wait while they chill) I’m also adding them to Dead Easy Desserts, hosted by  Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary (and organised by Maison Cupcake).