CHAMPAGNE PUD TO TURN YOU TO JELLY.

Byline: bryan webb

T'S hard to believe we are half way through August already and the grouse season is upon us.

IGrouse is my favourite thing in the world to eat, and the famous chef Franco Taruschio and his wife make the trek from South Wales every year to eat grouse cooked by yours truly, which is a great honour for me.

Even though the season started on Wednesday, it will be next weekend before the birds reach my menu. I always wait a week so supplies are up and running, and the price is more realistic.

We always think of game as an autumn meal, but here in the middle of summer these wonderful birds appear - so we can have the best of both worlds with a fruity summery dessert to finish. My favourite to follow grouse is a whimberry crme brle - whimberies are a wonderful fruit local to Wales, and also a good feed for the grouse.

This year I have been extremely lucky to have had supplies from South Wales and from Linda Evans, who lives on the moors above Llangollen. During summer she opens her wonderful tea room called Prospect Tea Rooms, where she bakes light and delicious whimberry tarts.

There is plenty of fruit around at the moment and that means summer puddings.

Whimberries, along with red and black currants, blackberries and raspberries, all go into my mix for a classic summer pudding. If time is not on your side, or you are not a lover of a soggy soaked bread pudding, then try a summer fruit Champagne jelly.

If you like baking try some madeleines, light and fluffy French style cakes baked in special shell trays. Served warm, they are a wonderful accompaniment for the refreshing jellies.

If you don't have the legs to walk up the moors and pick your own whimberries, can't find a game dealer who has grouse in stock and would love to eat lobster before the season finishes, then Friday September 4 is for you as we are holding a lobster and grouse dinner with whimberry crme brle to finish, all washed down with some of California's finest wines - call us on 01490 440264 if you are interested.

. Bryan Webb is owner/chef of Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, near Corwen

CHAMPAGNE AND SUMMER FRUIT JELLY (for 4) ingredients 325ml Champagne 250g caster sugar 500g of whimberies or blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, red and blackcurrants 6 leaves of gelatine, soaked in water to soften method. Dissolve the sugar in the Champagne over a gentle heat. Remove from the heat and add the softened gelatine. Leave to cool but not set. Pick over the fruit and mix into the jelly. Pour a little jelly into the bottom of 4 small moulds, leave to set. Add the rest of the mixture, cover with cling film, and place in the fridge to set. To serve, turn out onto a plate (dip the base of the moulds briefly in hot water). Serve with crme fraiche and a madeleine

MADELEINES (makes 40 small or 14 large) ingredients 2 eggs 75gm sugar 10gm dark soft brown sugar small pinch of salt 90gm flour vanilla essence, optional 1 tsp baking powder 90gm melted butter and 30gm melted butter, cooled for greasing 1 tbsp clear honey method. Preheat oven to 220C/425F/gas 8. Combine eggs, both kinds of sugar and salt in a bowl and work lightly with a spatula until mixture begins to turn light in colour. Stir together the flour and baking powder and fold them gently into the mixture, together with the vanilla essence if you are using it. Do not overwork the mixture. Lastly pour in the cooled melted butter and honey and completely mix. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rest in a cool place for 30 minutes. Brush the insides of the Madeleine tray with the melted butter. Pipe the mixture into the cavities in the tray, forming it into evenly shaped domes. Bake for about 5 mins for the small or 10 mins for the large. As soon as they are cooked, invert the tray directly onto a wire rack - be careful not to let the tray fall onto the madeleines. Serve as they are when they have barely cooked, they are sheer perfection