Haw flakes

Method

1. 1 Boil hawthorn berries with a cinnamon stick for 20 minutes, then strain through a sieve to remove all the seeds and peel.
2. 2 Strain the mixture through a sieve instead of grinding it; hawthorn seeds are very hard, and grinding them would result in a lumpy batch.
3. 3 Simmer the fruit pulp with sugar over low heat for 40 minutes until it thickens into a jam-like consistency.
4. 4 Once the mixture has thickened, add the agar and simmer for another 5 minutes.
5. 5 Spread the block onto a parchment-lined tray in a thin layer of 4 mm and let it air dry for 6 hours.
6. 6 Cut into round slices, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and stack them like coins.

With an appliance

• Oven 3 hr 20 min

  Replace step 5: Spread the jam in a 4 mm thick layer and dry it on the middle rack of a 90-degree oven for 2 hours and 15 minutes, with the door slightly ajar (2 cm) and rotating the tray after 70 minutes; instead of 6 hours of air drying, the slices dry faster (almost 4 hours) and are more evenly chewy. Steps 1–4 (boiling, filtering, and simmering) remain the same to prevent hard seeds from mixing into the jam.