My Tiny PlotSimple Red Currant Jam
This year I harvested over 1.2kg of fruit from one Red Currant bush! That’s the most I’ve ever had I think. I’ve made Red Currant Jelly before but I wanted a simpler recipe because I knew that I wouldn’t be keeping the jam for very long as it would probably get eaten in a matter of weeks.
The bush was so laden with fruit that I even had to cut off some of the branches as they had bent over with the weight.
The recipe was a simple one. Just pick the fruit (which took about half an hour) wash and weigh the fruit. I had 1.2kg of fruit. Put these, stalks and all, into a preserving pan. Cook the fruit for about 10 mins squashing the fruit to release the juice. Add the same quantity of sugar (1.2kg)
and bring to the boil. Boil for eight minutes then strain through a muslin. I bought this stand for the job. And it worked well.
Sterlize some jars in the oven and when the mixture is strained pour it into the waiting jars.
Regarding the amount of sugar – it is alot. Certainly when you weigh it out it looks like an excessive amount. Now that I’ve tasted the jam I think you could get away with putting less sugar in. Maybe even two or three hundred grams less. The resulting jam I’m guessing will be a little more tart but personally I’d prefer that so I’ll be reducing the sugar next time. If you like your jam sweet then go for equal proportions.
We boil our fruit and sugar for just 8 minutes which gives a lovely fresh flavour and a very lightly set jelly. We make about 20 jars each year (it really is fabulous on toast) and we’ve found it keeps well for several months just like other jams and jellies. Our redcurrant bushes are still young so we’ll be visiting our local PYO very soon.
Looks yummy, and i do like the colour co-ordinated accessories :)
MMM. Cannot wait for the berry harvest now ive seen these mouth watering pics.
Sounds delicious! Some time back I was given a recipe for Hedgerow Jam which includes red currants, blackberries, elderberries and crab apples, which is fabulous too. Thanks for this lovely post!
Hi, just come across your lovely blog, I m a keen gardener and lover of all things nice. Thought you might be interested in seeing my blog on Petersham Nurseries. there are two as I had so many pictures to post. Here is the first. http://www.karenbarclay.com/everything-else/goodbye-winchester-hello-london/ Enjoy.
Just FYI the jelly is not fully set – but I like it like that. It’s kind of wobbly. Still tastes amazing and the boys have it on their porridge every morning. They’re calling it ‘Mummy’s special jam’ – I like that.
More sugar just means that the jam will keep for far longer – a year or two, at least. If you think it will be eaten well before then, there is no need to use as much sugar.