Recipe for Blackcurrant Jam (2024)

FAQs

Do you need to top and tail blackcurrants to make jam? ›

For me, it is just as good to leave the odd little green stalk on and totally ignore the little dried flower end. The end product when you use a blender stick on your simmered fruit is a smooth jam with a dense texture and a strong, rich flavour. Gently simmer until the fruit is soft and cooked.

Over-ripe or damaged fruit is not ideal - the jam will not set well and is likely to deteriorate rapidly. The amount of sugar you need to make jam depends on the amount of pectin in your chosen fruit, but generally the fruit-to-sugar ratio for traditional jams is 1:1 (ie. 450g/1lb sugar to 450g/1lb fruit).

Blackcurrants have enough pectin (the thing that makes jam set) in them that you should be fine with normal sugar. The usual sugar to fruit ratio for jam is 50/50, but this makes for a very sweet finished product – to let the flavour of the fruit come through more, we've taken the sugar down a bit.

The jam tastes strongly of fruit, but to me it's also woodsy, and it's herbal in the way of some Sauvignon Blanc (in that, it can be unpleasantly strong). In fact,“ black currant” is a metaphor used to describe some red wine, and this jam provides a point of reference.

Homemade fruit preserves can last for up to year or even longer if it is unopened and stored in a cool, dry place, such as a pantry or kitchen cupboard. However the flavour and texture of your jam will start to deteriorate after around 6 months, even if you keep them tightly sealed.

So if you use pieces of fruit or whole berries, you are actually using less fruit than if it were mashed, or cooked to a mash and then measured, and you will get a firmer jell. Or you may have used more pectin than the recipe called for. For example, if you used Tablespoons of pectin rather than teaspoons.

If you don't have the right amount of sugar, you run the risk of the jam or jelly being runny.

The ratio between fruit and sugar varies: with sweet fruits, it's about 2:1 (2 kilos of fruit, 1 of sugar), while with more bitter fruits like oranges, it should be more like 3:2. If uncertain, it's better to round up with the sugar. The other potential ingredients – lemon and pectin – are found in many jam recipes.

5. Do Not Stir Once Mixture Is Boiling. Once your jam/marmalade it has reached a rapid rolling boil do not stir it. Stirring it will alter the temperature of the jam/marmalade meaning it will take longer to reach the setting point.

Blackcurrants only grow in cool climates like Northern Europe; you may find it hard to buy them where you live. Growing them was not allowed (because they were thought to produce a fungus that could damage pine trees) in United Stated for a long time.

How do you thicken blackcurrant jam? ›

Add pectin.

Whisk a tablespoon of powdered pectin (preferably the no-sugar-needed variety) into the pot of cooking jam. Test for thickness and add another tablespoon if needed. Learn More About Pectin: What's the Deal with Pectin?

Are there side effects? Both blackcurrant berries and seed oil are considered safe at recommended doses. However, the supplements have been known to cause some side effects such as soft stools, mild diarrhea, and intestinal gas.

BLACKCURRANT Ben Connan

Bred by the Scottish Crop Research Institute, Ben Connan is a very popular early fruiting variety. Exceptionally large and glossy black currants that have superb rich flavour.

Black currants are high in antioxidants, including vitamin C. Along with the anthocyanins in black currants, these antioxidants can help to give your immune system a boost, allowing your body to fight infection and viruses more effectively. Black currants are rich in an omega-6 fatty acid called gamma-linoleic acid.

Blackcurrants have more than three times the vitamin C of oranges and anthocyanin levels second only to some types of blueberry (Bibliography Ref: 1). These anthocyanins can help fight against cardiovascular disease, ageing, joint inflammation, eyestrain, urinary infections, kidney stones and even cancer.

Nope - you only need to remove the stalks and you can even leave them if you are making a jelly that you put through a jelly bag. Thanks, what about if I'm doing jam will they float so I can skim them off the top maybe?

Lightly pick over the redcurrants, removing any leaves and fibrous stalks— no need to top and tail them or strip them off their stalks.

Add pectin.

While this trick won't work for jam recipes that already call for pectin, adding pectin to a loose batch of jam while re-cooking it almost guarantees that the jam with set back up nicely. Whisk a tablespoon of powdered pectin (preferably the no-sugar-needed variety) into the pot of cooking jam.

In order for a jam to set, you need enough pectin and acid. If either are missing, the jam or jelly won't set. You can test for both pectin and acid levels.