Physicist and astronomer Stefan Feeney of University College London, one of the...
So the red currant bloomed in my garden, I have been collecting all kinds of preparations for the winter from it for many decades. And not just because you like the berry, it is very useful, and some goodies are obtained only from it. What a fragrant compote, a jar is drunk by the family in one evening. And the jelly is unimaginably shimmering in the sun, it won’t work out of any other berry.
Some argue which of the currants is more useful, black or red. Yes, they are all good in their own way, their composition is different and the effect on the body too. But both are useful.
Redcurrant has the ability to lower blood sugar levels, which is very necessary for diabetics. It is also a good diaphoretic and diuretic. It can remove toxins and toxins from the body. Well, and, of course, vitamins that are transferred to all products made with soul and love for a long winter.
- 1 Redcurrant for the winter, recipes
- 1.1 Redcurrant jelly
- 1.2 "Live" redcurrant jam without cooking
- 1.3 Redcurrant jam
- 1.4 Red currant jam
- 1.5 Red currant jam
- 1.6 Red currant juice
- 1.7 Red currant compote
- 1.8 Redcurrant jam with apples
- 1.9 Frozen redcurrant
Redcurrant for the winter, recipes
Personally, I know a lot of redcurrant recipes. I have a fairly large area for bushes. But I try to use recipes with little or no heat treatment. The taste is delicious, but I want to keep more vitamins that we need so much in winter.
There are many recipes for which the berry needs to be chopped. With modern kitchen helpers, this is not a problem, but I still prefer to rub it through a sieve or squeeze the juice through cheesecloth, somehow it turns out tastier.
Red currant jelly
Yes, it is with this recipe that you need to start, because it is from the red currant that jelly is best obtained. The berry is gelled superbly without any additives.
We will need:
- Kilo berries
- Kilo of sugar
- Half a liter of water
How to make redcurrant jelly:
We thoroughly wash the berries and select the twigs, remove the tails. we fall asleep in a container and fill it with water, turn on the average temperature and bring to a boil, just until the moment when the water begins to spurt. We remove it from the stove and install a colander on another saucepan, where we will drain the liquid and wipe the juice. In order to achieve pure juice without stones and skins, take a fine sieve and a wooden spoon. A berry that has already been in boiling water is very easy to wipe. We rub the juice into the water where it was boiled.
Separately, we will prepare a marlechka, folded four times, in order to squeeze the cake well. We will get pure juice in a saucepan, into which you need to pour all the sugar at once and put on fire, first set the average temperature, then, after boiling, reduce and cook for half an hour.
When time passes, jelly can be poured into jars, take small ones, no more than half a liter. On top of the jelly, you can pour a teaspoon of sugar or put parchment. When cooling, the jars do not need to be turned over.
"Live" redcurrant jam without cooking
This jam is stored only in the refrigerator, so you can’t make a lot of it. But what is the use of one jar, open in winter, how many vitamins !!!
What will be needed:
- A kilo of berries
- Two kilos of sugar
How to prepare live vitamins:
As always, at the beginning we need to sort out the whole berry. Here it is impossible to prevent the ingress of unripe fruits or already overripe berries, we also carefully remove all the tails. Then you need to properly drain the water and dry the berry.
We will sterilize all the items that we will use to make this jam, you can simply scald it with boiling water.
We scroll the berry in a meat grinder, it’s easier for me to chop with a blender. Then carefully wipe it through a sieve to remove all the bones. Pour sugar into the resulting juice. Yes, you still need to squeeze the cake, there is a lot of juice left. Stir the sugar with a wooden spatula or spoon until completely dissolved. Then we lay out the jam in sterile dry jars and put it in the refrigerator.
Red currant jam
If jelly can be added as a filling to cakes and shortbread pastries, then redcurrant jam is just great in a homemade holiday cake.
To prepare it, we will take:
- Kilo of currants
- One and a half kilos of sugar
- Half a liter of water
How to make jam:
It takes longer to cook jam than jelly, but it is somewhat easier. We also thoroughly wash the sorted berry and leave it in a colander. Let's boil a little water in a saucepan and in the same colander we will lower the berry for a couple of minutes for blanching. Then we pour it into the container where the jam will be cooked until tender, and trample it with a wooden pestle, or you can knead it with a wooden spoon.
Pour water into the berry mass and immediately add all the sugar. We begin to cook, the process will be long, you need to boil more than twice. Then you need to check that the drop does not spread. That's when it'll be ready. It remains to decompose into jars. You can store it at home.
Red currant jam
We will need:
- A kilo of berries
- Kilo of sugar
How to make redcurrant jam:
We sort the berries and wash them under the tap in a colander, leave it for a while so that the water is glass. But do not leave it like this for more than half an hour, the lower berries will begin to choke.
Pour the berries into a stainless steel bowl and pour the whole volume of sugar at once. let stand for a couple of hours, no longer needed, currants give juice very quickly.
We transfer the container to the stove and, while stirring, bring to a boil, boil for only a couple of minutes, this is enough for red currants. Immediately pour everything into jars and can be stored under nylon lids if they are tight.
Red currant jam
Jam is made in almost the same way as jelly, only the mass is thicker, due to prolonged boiling. Jam is very convenient to store, no refrigerator is required, and homemade cakes with it are very tasty.
What you need for jam:
- Kilo red currant
- Kilo of sugar
How to cook redcurrant jam:
For jam, you can also take an overripe, rumpled berry. we sort it out, wash it and remove the water, you can sprinkle it on a towel in one layer to dry. Then we crush the berry with a wooden pestle. If you don’t like the bones in the jam, you can also rub it through a sieve.
We mix the berry mass with sugar immediately in the cooking container and begin to cook. First, you can set the average temperature until everything boils. But then you definitely need to reduce and cook already at the very minimum, you will have to cook for a long time until you achieve the desired consistency. The marmalade is usually ready when it begins to flake off the sides of the pot. Jam, like jam, can be stored in a regular cabinet in the kitchen.
Red currant juice
Natural and fragrant, everyone likes it without exception. Prepares quickly and keeps well.
What will be required:
- Three kilo berries
- Half a kilo of sugar
- One and a half liters of water
How to make juice:
We sort out the berries, but the twigs can be left, it will be more fragrant, and they do not interfere. Pour water in a saucepan and cook for about 10 minutes. Then you need to strain the berries and rub through a sieve, you can squeeze through cheesecloth, so it turns out better. Pour sugar into the resulting juice and let it boil over low heat for five minutes. Pack in jars.
Red currant compote
Something, but I always close a lot of redcurrant compote, because we start drinking it without waiting for winter, but as soon as the jars cool down.
What we will need:
- Berry
- Sugar
How to cook:
Wash the berries well. I don’t cut ponytails for compote, on the contrary, I try to pick more with clusters, they look so beautiful. I make compote only in three-liter jars. I fill with berries by a third, maybe a little more. I measure the amount of water, just pour cold water into a jar of berries and then pour it into a saucepan.
I add one and a half cups of sugar to each three-liter jar, boil the syrup, it should cook for about five minutes until it becomes transparent. and immediately pour boiling into the berries, to the very neck, so that there is no air left in the jars. I roll it up, turn it over on the lids and wrap it in a warm blanket.
Whatever you say, it is very convenient to make jam this way. Some generally cook all the jam only in a slow cooker.
What will be required:
- Two kilos of berries
- One and a half kilos of sugar
How will we cook:
It is necessary to rinse the berry, remove all debris and allow to dry. Then we fall asleep in a bowl with sugar and let stand until the juice begins to appear and the sugar melts. Stir with a wooden spoon and cook for 20 minutes in the stew mode with the lid closed. Pour into jars immediately.
Redcurrant jam with apples
We will need for cooking:
- Kilo berries
- Half a kilo of apples
- One and a half kilos of sugar
- Lemons half a teaspoon
How to cook:
The berry needs to be washed, all debris removed and spread out to dry in one layer. Apples need to be freed from the core and peel, cut into small cubes and, so as not to darken, hold for half an hour in water with citric acid. Then drain the water off them and let them dry as much as possible.
You need to pour sugar into the water and boil the syrup, then pour the dried pieces of apples into it and cook for ten minutes. Then pour the berries there and just bring to a boil. Allow to cool, at the end put it back on the stove and cook until it is ready. Pack in jars.
Frozen redcurrant
Of the ingredients, you will only need a clean berry without debris, preferably dried and of good ripeness.
How to cook:
Sort the berry itself, wash it and spread it on a towel in one layer. Wait until dry. Then lay out in containers or bags and immediately place in the refrigerator, in the freezer. You can store such a berry until the next season, if you do not defrost it. In winter, you can cook compotes from it, eat it simply with sugar, add it to the fillings.
The best recipes for making healthy and fragrant redcurrant jam!
We offer a simple option for harvesting red currants for the future - red currant jam for the winter, step-by-step instructions will help you do all the processes quickly and correctly. The jam is obtained practically without heat treatment, it is cooked for no more than five minutes, so that the berries can fully preserve all their value. If desired, for the first few minutes of cooking, the berries can be pureed with an immersion blender, then something like jam will turn out.
- red currant - 300 g,
- sugar - 300 g.
To prepare currants, the most difficult thing in working with red currants is to peel them from the twigs, since the berries are small and can be easily crushed already in the process of cleaning. Therefore, you need to carefully cut off all the red berries. Put the berries in a deep bowl, pour water, dry leaves will immediately float to the surface, which were not taken into account. Wash currants. Leave in a sieve so that all the water is glass. Then transfer the currants to a bowl or pan.
Pour in sugar. Add a little vanilla sugar if you like.
Very gently mix the berries with sugar so that each currant is covered with sugar. Now put the container in a dark place for 8 hours. It is convenient to do this procedure in the evening, and in the morning the matter remains small - quickly boil and roll up the jam.
After the specified time, the sugar dissolved, the currant gave a little juice. Now transfer the berries to a container for the stove. Also at this stage, jars and lids should already be sent for sterilization.
Boil currants after boiling for exactly five minutes, no more is needed.
Immediately spread the berries along with the syrup in jars. You can store in the refrigerator for up to a month, or roll up and store until winter.
Put hermetically tightened jars in a secluded place in a position upside down, additionally insulate.
A day later, remove the redcurrant jam from the blanket or blanket, or what was insulated, and send the jars to the basement.
Recipe 2: the best five-minute redcurrant jam
- red currant - 1 kg .;
- sugar - 1.5 kg .;
- water - 150 ml.
If jam can be made from any berries, even from overripe, then for this recipe it is better to choose fresh, freshly picked, slightly unripe. Such berries will remain intact during cooking.
So, we are harvesting, we are trying to have less garbage - twigs, leaves.
By the way, redcurrant belongs to a rare category of berries that can stay fresh for quite a long time in the refrigerator compartment. So if you don’t have time to harvest immediately after harvesting, you can leave it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
We cut off the berries from the branches, soak in cold water to remove debris. Then rinse under a tap with cold water.
Cooking sugar syrup. Pour granulated sugar, pour water, bring to a boil over low heat. Boil until the foam subsides - about 3-4 minutes.
Cool the syrup a little, put the currants in a bowl for cooking, pour hot syrup.
Cook in 3 doses - each time bring to a boil over low heat. Then boil for 5 minutes, remove from the stove. Cool to room temperature and heat again and boil. If there is no time for cooking in several steps, you can cook once for 30 minutes, but in this case, many berries will boil and the color will not be bright.
You can’t mix the mass, you need to shake the basin so that the foam collects in its center.
Preparing a container for conservation. Thoroughly washed jars and lids are rinsed with boiling water, dried in an oven at a temperature of 150 degrees for 10 minutes.
We lay out the finished redcurrant jam in jars, after cooling, close the lids or parchment folded in several layers for baking.
Store in a dry and dark place.
Recipe 3: Delicious Redcurrant Jam with Fruit
I like the color and taste of redcurrant. Here we will take it as a basis. Add bananas, apples, apricots to the jam. You can take any fruits you have available or take advantage of my offer. The ratio of fruits and berries, determine yourself. How much sugar you add to the jam depends on the acidity of the berries, fruits, and of course your taste. So that the jam does not digest, and so that it has a jelly consistency, add pectin or a jelly mixture. How much pectin you add depends on what you want.
- Red currant - 1 kg.
- Banana - 1 pc.
- Large apple - 1 pc.
- Apricot - to taste.
- Sugar - 1 kg.
- Water - 100 ml.
- Pectin - 20 grams.
Rinse and dry the currant.
Wash banana, peel and cut into pieces.
Rinse the apple, dry it and cut into pieces.
Rinse the apricots, pat dry, remove the pit and cut into pieces.
Remove twigs from currants.
Pour the currants into a saucepan and crush a little.
Add banana slices to currants and mix.
Then add apple slices and mix.
Add apricot pieces and stir.
Add 0.5 kg of sugar, water to fruits and mix.
Bring fruit to a boil.
We will need pectin or a gelling mixture to thicken the jam.
Mix the remaining sugar and pectin.
Add sugar with pectin to the jam, mix, bring to a boil, cook the jam for 10 minutes, constantly removing the foam.
We lay out the hot jam in prepared jars and roll up or twist the lids.
Red currant jam with fruits turned out beautiful in color, very tasty with a pleasant aroma of currants and fruits with a jelly consistency. Bon appetit and good luck!
Recipe 4: zucchini jam with red currants (with photo)
Unusual redcurrant jam can be prepared for the winter. Zucchini plays the main role in this jam, and redcurrant adds a pleasant sourness and unique color. The jam turns out to be tender, not cloyingly sweet and somewhat reminiscent of jam in consistency.
- Zucchini 1 kg;
- Red currant 400 grams;
- Sugar 1 kg.
Necessary products: zucchini, currants, sugar.
Wash the currants, peel the twigs, dry on a towel. Remove the skin from the zucchini, cut into small pieces.
In a blender (you can use a meat grinder), chop the zucchini and currants. If desired, you can additionally rub the mass through a sieve to remove currant seeds.
Pour in sugar, mix well and put on a slow fire. The mass must be stirred frequently so that the sugar is completely dissolved and the jam does not burn.
Bring the zucchini jam to a boil, let it boil for 5-10 minutes. Then, at intervals of 12 hours, repeat the procedure 2 more times. Let the jam cool completely and pour into sterile jars. Close the lid. Store in a cool place.
Recipe 5, step by step: jam for the winter from apples and currants
The scarlet pulp of the currant gives the apple jam an amazing color and a unique tart shade. The abundance of vegetable fiber increases its beneficial properties. The taste of the finished product depends on the ratio of fruits.
High-quality jam is prepared without adding water. In order for the fruits covered with sugar to release the juice as soon as possible, the dishes with them should be shaken from time to time. You can put it on fire even with a small amount of liquid: gradual heating will greatly speed up the process.
Boiling in several steps will achieve a jelly-like consistency of the product.
For a 0.5 l can:
- 300 g red currants
- 2-3 ripe apples
- 200 g granulated sugar
We clean the red currant berries from the bunches and rinse in water. Let's pour them into a cauldron or a saucepan - the dishes must have a non-stick bottom so that the workpiece cannot burn!
We also wash the apples in water and cut them into quarters, removing the cores with seed pods from them. Cut each part into small cubes and pour into a container.
Add granulated sugar and gently mix everything. Some chefs advise leaving berries and fruits in sugar for 1-2 hours so that they have time to release the juice, but the apple slices will darken and become unattractive in appearance during this time, so we will immediately place the container on the stove and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and continue to boil the jam until the apple cubes soften.
As soon as they become soft, but do not lose their shape, our jam is completely ready! Be sure to sterilize the jars over steam or scald them with boiling water along with the lids.
Pour the jam with pieces of apples into a jar with a ladle and immediately cork it with a tin lid, and then roll it up with a key for conservation. If you have jars and lids with threads, then just screw them all the way.
We will check the preservation for strength by turning the jar on its side, and send it to the pantry or to the balcony until it cools completely, and then transfer it to the cellar or basement.
Such a jam is in perfect harmony with shortbread dough - cook pies, baskets, etc. with it. Such fragrant pastries will surely scatter from the dish in an instant!
Recipe 6: tender currant jam with lemon (step by step)
- Red currant - 700 grams
- Lemon - ½ part
- Sugar sand 350-400 grams
Put the currants in a colander and rinse under running water. Let the water drain and then free the berries from the twigs. Pour the berries into a bowl and sprinkle with sugar.
We turn on the submersible blender and grind the currants together with sugar. As a result, we get such a bright colorful mixture that you immediately want to try.
But, we leave it and start preparing the second participant in our amazing redcurrant jam. We wash the lemon very well under running warm water, because we will use it together with the skin. Then cut off half and cut into pieces. Place in a blender bowl and grind into a paste.
The result is sent to the currant-sugar mass.
And then we pour it directly into the container in which our redcurrant jam with lemon will be prepared. We put it on medium heat.
We do not depart, but, armed with a wooden spoon, stir the future jam. Very soon, foam will appear on it, which we immediately carefully collect in a cup.
After removing the foam, let our jam boil for literally 5-7 minutes and turn off the fire.
By this time, a sterile jar and a sterile lid have already been prepared (steam over steam). We shift the hot contents of the saucepan into a hot jar, immediately roll up the lid.
An exquisite delicacy - redcurrant jam with lemon will wait for its time on the shelf. And in winter you will appreciate its sweet and sour taste!
Red currant bush always attracts attention. The bright contrast of green and red beckons to try what it is. The berries themselves are very juicy, sweet, with a slight pleasant sourness and some special aroma. In the harvest season, all kinds of preparations begin. A great and tasty way to extend the life of berries is to make redcurrant jam for the winter.
Jam Benefits
Red currant has many useful properties, the main of which is an excellent antipyretic. Picked berries tend to deteriorate quickly, so housewives prepare all kinds of blanks for the winter. Jam from these berries is the best way to eat this berry almost every day. It is used as a sauce for cottage cheese dishes, as a filling for a pie, for pouring ice cream, and just as a bite with tea, it will come in handy.
Jam is prepared in two ways: cold and hot. The less heat treatment a berry has undergone, the more useful properties it will retain.
Which berry to choose
Quite often you can hear that for many housewives the jam did not freeze after cooking, but remained liquid. Many factors influence this: an insufficient amount of sugar, an overripe berry, but most often this is the wrong variety of red currant. It will be quite difficult for a beginner, faced with a choice, to choose the “necessary” currant, and on the market, he will be assured that all currants are great for making thick jam.
Suitable for making jam will be large-fruited varieties of red currant. Their taste is richer, the size is slightly larger than that of ordinary berries, and it is they who give that very thick consistency.
It is also believed that it is better to use a slightly unripe berry, it contains the most pectin, a substance that serves as a thickener.
Preparing berries
Harvested or purchased red currant needs preliminary preparation, which consists of several stages:
- To begin with, the berries are cleared of twigs and along the way they move from leaves and insects, if any.
- The sorted berries are washed in a sieve or colander. It is better to use a low pressure shower or a faucet with a diffuser so as not to crush the berries with a jet of water.
- Washed red currants are laid out on a sheet to dry quickly.
Tableware
It is believed that the best utensils for making hot jam will be a wide metal basin. The larger the diameter, the faster the confiture cooks and hardens. Therefore, if there is a dish with a diameter of no more than 26 cm, it will be appropriate to cook no more than 2 kilograms of berries in it at a time.
To store the finished product, it is better to use a glass, pre-sterilized container. The lids that seal the jars can be nylon and metal, and they must also be sterilized. They usually boil for a few minutes.
Jam preparation and recipes
As mentioned above, the less berries are cooked, the more useful substances they retain in themselves. There are several recipes for making redcurrant jam:
- without cooking;
- "five minutes";
- classic jam;
- seedless;
- using gelatin.
Each of these methods is good in its own way. Having prepared several options at once, you can use jam for different occasions or choose the one you especially like.
Red currant jam without boiling
Currants are very useful, these small berries contain a huge amount of vitamins. Its use has a beneficial effect on blood vessels, intestines, heart. It acts as a diaphoretic and anti-inflammatory agent. Therefore, it is so important to keep all these vitamins in the winter, especially if the conditions and lack of space in the freezer do not allow this. Jam without cooking is a great way out of this situation.
There are both simple and more complex recipes.
For a fast way you will need:
- 2 kg currants;
- 2.2 kg of sugar.
- Prepared currant berries are twisted through a meat grinder or pureed with a blender.
- Mix thoroughly with sugar.
- The finished mixture is placed in sterile jars.
In the same way, you can prepare a kind assorted by mixing red currants with other berries. Suitable blackcurrant, raspberry, gooseberry. Here is a simple recipe:
- currant red and black - 0.5 kg each;
- gooseberries - 0.5 kg;
- sugar - 1.7 kg.
Twist all the berries, mix with sugar and send to clean jars. Screw on the lid or use parchment instead, which is fixed with an elastic band.
For a more complex way it takes a little more time and patience. Ingredients:
- red currant - 500 gr;
- white sugar - 500 gr.
- The washed and dried berries are placed in a saucepan or basin and pounded with a pusher.
- Next, the finished mass is ground through a sieve.
- Ready jelly must be mixed with sugar. This must be done until it dissolves, without changing direction. So the jelly will quickly acquire the desired jelly consistency.
- Ready jelly jam is poured into pasteurized jars.
Since the berries have not undergone heat treatment, they should be stored in the refrigerator, on the balcony during the cold season or in the cellar. A large amount of sugar will prevent the jelly from fermenting or spoiling, but it is still worth checking the jars from time to time for safety.
The finished product can be served with pancakes, pancakes, cheesecakes, spread on a sandwich or eaten just like that.
Redcurrant Five Minute Jam
This method of harvesting red currants is called differently: “five-minute”, “minute”, “instant”. Of course, its preparation time is far from 5 minutes, but it is done quite quickly and simply. In general, even for the slowest hostess, the process will not take more than an hour.
You will need:
- currant - 2 kg;
- sugar - 2 - 2.5 kg;
- water - 2 glasses.
Cooking:
- Mix sugar with water and put on fire.
- Boil the syrup and dip the prepared berries into it.
- Put the future jam on the fire and wait for it to boil.
- After boiling, there are 2 ways out: to keep the berries whole, the jam must be gently shaken, but not stirred; for a mushy consistency, it is intensively mixed with a wooden spoon.
- The procedure with boiling and stirring is repeated 2 more times.
- Ready hot jam is poured into warm sterilized jars, corked and turned over. Cool the corked jam under a blanket and put it in a dark place.
This classic recipe can be modified to your liking. Instead of regular sugar, use gelling sugar, it contains pectin, which slightly thickens the finished jam. Also, part of the sugar can be replaced with artificial honey. This will give the jam a unique flavor and aroma. A stick of vanilla, a little cinnamon, cardamom will bring a touch of the east to the jam.
Classic redcurrant jam
Redcurrant jam prepared according to the classic recipe is a bright and tasty preparation that does not require special storage conditions. This recipe is appreciated by most housewives. It is also prepared in two ways: with and without bones. The advantages of the first option are less time spent and a minimum of waste, the second is a homogeneous delicate consistency.
Red currant jam with stones
The proportions for the recipe for future jam must be selected individually. If the berry is sweet enough, you should not clog its taste with a huge amount of sugar, sometimes for 1 kg of berries, 250 g of granulated sugar is enough. But those who prefer it sweeter can increase the amount by 1.5 or 2 times.
Cooking method:
- Pour the peeled and washed red currants into a basin or bowl and cover with sugar.
- Leave the berries for a day or night so that they let out enough juice.
- Put the container with the future jam on a minimum fire and, stirring constantly, remove the foam.
- After boiling, boil for 5-7 minutes.
- Pour the jam into sterilized jars, roll up and put away in a dark place.
If after the first boiling the jam turned out to be too liquid, you can repeat the procedure several times, only before each boiling you need to cool it completely.
In such a jam, you can add various fruits and even nuts, which not only will not spoil it, but will make the taste bright and unusual.
To prepare classic jam, especially in small volumes, you can use such a multifunctional device as a slow cooker.
Seedless jam in a slow cooker
You will need:
- red currant - 0.5 kg;
- water - 100 ml;
- sugar - 0.3 kg;
- gelatin - 5 gr.
Cooking method:
- Pour the currant berries into the bowl of the multicooker and pour them with water.
- Set the Cooking or Cereals program with a time of 10 minutes (during this time, all the berries should burst).
- Grind the finished mass through a sieve. You can not throw away the peel and bones, but cook compote from them, as they still contain enough taste.
- Send the grated berries back to the bowl and pour the norm of sugar, mixed with gelatin, indicated in the recipe.
- On the Simmering jam program, cook for no more than 25 minutes.
- Pour the finished jam into the prepared container or cool and eat immediately.
Using gelatin in the recipe will help achieve the desired jelly consistency, especially if there is not enough pectin in the berries.
You can store jam prepared in this way in any dark and warm place and not worry that it will ferment and swell.
The recipe for live currant jelly allows you to prepare a fragrant beautiful dessert and at the same time preserve all the useful substances of the summer berry, including vitamins (A, C, E), which are almost completely destroyed during cooking.
In this article you will find a recipe for live redcurrant jelly with step by step photos; learn what to do if currant jelly does not harden and how best to squeeze the juice with your hands or make currant jelly with a juicer. You will also read how to make redcurrant jelly with gelatin and thick redcurrant and blackcurrant jelly.
How to cook redcurrant jelly without cooking (recipe with photo step by step)
- We collect currants. It is better to remove the currants when not all the berries have acquired a dark red hue. In such a currant there is more pectin, and, therefore, it gels better.
- Separate branches and leaves.
- The sorted berries must be carefully washed. Then the berries must be dried on paper or cloth so that no excess water gets into the jelly.
- The next step is the most time consuming. You need to squeeze the berry in portions with your hands through a double layer of gauze, a piece of tulle or even cotton fabric.
- Experienced housewives claim that from the juice obtained with the help of a juicer, live jelly turns out worse.
- From the squeezes you can cook a very tasty and healthy compote.
- If the juice still got the bones, then it is better to strain it through a fine sieve.
- Before adding granulated sugar, you need to measure how much juice is obtained, granulated sugar should be 1.5 2 times more. It is convenient to pour the juice into a jar, and then measure the sand with the same jar. Any jar (if poured with a neck) will fit a little less sugar (approximately 850 g per 1 liter) than liquids, but this small error does not matter for the recipe.
- Then you need to take a wide container (preferably glass, enameled or stainless steel) and pour all the juice into it. Sugar is poured in small portions and stirred with a wooden spoon for 10-15 minutes. When all the granules are dissolved, add the next portion. This process can be divided into several times, allowing the workpiece to stand for 2-3 hours before the next addition of sugar, so the sand will disperse even better.
- Jelly can be considered ready when it begins to settle on the walls of the dishes and on a spoon, and a drop of jelly does not spread on a cold saucer.
- We transfer the finished jelly to a sterilized jar and close it, in the cold it gels after 5-8 hours, the degree of hardness depends on the variety of currant.
- If there is enough sugar in the jelly, then it can be stored without a refrigerator under a screw cap.
What to do if redcurrant jelly is not frozen
From live jelly, you should not expect such a density as from a dessert prepared in a hot way or with thickeners. The formulation can be cut with a knife not about such redcurrant jelly, such gelling cannot be achieved with a cold cooking method. In the refrigerator, the jelly will become thick in a few hours, but in a dessert bowl on the table it will quickly begin to spread. The advantages of this recipe are not in the density of the workpiece, but in the amazing taste of fresh berries and vitamin reserves.
However, the consistency of jelly can also be fought. If all the sugar is already mixed into the jelly, and it still flows from the spoon like liquid syrup, then you can add more sugar in small portions and continue to stir, leaving the jelly for 2-3 hours in between pouring sugar. If this measure does not help, and there is a feeling that the sugar does not dissolve well, then you can warm up the jelly a little over low heat and continue stirring, without boiling.
How to increase the density of live redcurrant jelly
The gelling properties of the workpiece can be increased in two ways:
Redcurrant jelly without cooking with gelatin
The dessert will be much denser if you make jelly with gelatin or other thickener (pectin, agar-agar). The technology for making jelly in this case changes slightly:
- For 1 liter of juice we take 2 tablespoons of gelatin, dilute in cold water and leave for 1 hour.
- When the gelatin dissolves, heat it up a little on the stove and stir in the sand.
- In redcurrant juice, add a warm solution of gelatin with sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. The workpiece is thoroughly mixed and poured into jars.
Red and black currant jelly without cooking
The density of the jelly will increase if you prepare an assortment of two types of currants, because. there is a lot of pectin in blackcurrant, the juice of this berry with sugar instantly freezes, even without a refrigerator. Half a liter of blackcurrant juice is taken per liter of redcurrant juice, the juices are mixed, and then they are cooked like redcurrant jelly without boiling, a recipe for the winter will help to do everything correctly. You can use another procedure:
- mix sugar well in redcurrant juice,
- add blackcurrant juice and diligently mix the two juices,
- some housewives add half a glass of dry white wine to the juice mixture, so the sugar disperses even better (however, such an alcoholic preparation should no longer be given to children).
Is it possible to squeeze juice for jelly through a juicer
Many housewives prefer to manually squeeze the juice through gauze and claim that this way the product gels better. There is no scientific evidence for such a strategy, because. even if the jelly made using a modern machine, and not the old fashioned way, is not frozen, the reason may not be in the juicer, but in the variety of berries or the amount of granulated sugar. The hostess will find a lot of advantages in the modern recipe for making redcurrant jelly without cooking, there is no loss of juice through the juicer, very little cake remains. In addition, the hostess saves her time and does not spoil her hands, they are not corroded by sour currant juice.
The recipe for making currant jelly using a juicer does not differ much from the classic way. The only difference is that the juice is obtained using a juicer from raw or preheated (to soften the peel) berries. In some versions of the recipe, it is proposed to mix berry juice not with sugar, but with sugar syrup, which must first be prepared. This will allow the sugar to dissolve better in the juice.
Bright fragrant sweet and sour redcurrant jam - a drop of summer that will warm you on cold and gray days.
A versatile and healthy homemade jam, this jam is a real lifesaver for any occasion or season. A jar of homemade redcurrant jam can be a nice little gift or a sign of attention. A drop of jam will enrich the taste of desserts and pastries, decorate the simplest toast or porridge for breakfast. Follow the example of celebrity chefs and add a little redcurrant jam when roasting meat or poultry to a creamy meatball sauce - a delicious result is guaranteed.
Take a few minutes to make jam today and keep the bright taste and aroma of fresh berries for a long time!
Before you make redcurrant jam for the winter, prepare the ingredients according to the list.
Rinse the currant and dry it. Sort and separate the berries from the twigs.
Grind the berries in a way convenient for you - in a blender, mortar or rubbing through a sieve.
Mix the berry puree with an equal amount of sugar and stir. If the berries are sour, the amount of sugar can be increased to 1.5 kg per 1 kg of berries. If desired, you can additionally add a little water, usually no more than 100-120 ml per kilogram of berries.
Bring the mixture to a boil over low heat.
While stirring and removing the resulting foam, reduce the jam by 1/2 or 1/3 over low heat. As a rule, the process takes 25-40 minutes.
The finished jam will thicken and become a deep ruby color, and the volume of the mixture will be reduced by half. If desired, the finished jam can be additionally strained through a sieve to remove the seeds.
Pour hot currant jam into sterilized jars and seal tightly with boiled lids.
Turn jars over and wrap until cool.
Redcurrant jam for the winter is ready. Happy tea!
The jam is thick, fragrant and sweet, with a slight sourness. Due to the natural gelling properties of redcurrant, as it cools, the jam will thicken and become soft jelly. Jam is undemanding to temperature conditions, jars with blanks can be stored at room temperature.
