Blackcurrant Jelly

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  It's Blackcurrant season and my friend Brian has given me lots of them, from the bushes in his garden. There is a definite advantage in making jelly as you don't have to remove all the stalks, which is time consuming and boring! Great on scones or try adding it to sauces to go with roast meats. Makes about six 400g jars.

Ingredients

  • 2kg blackcurrants
  • 1.75 litres of water
  • 500g white sugar for every 500ml of juice obtained
  • Juice of  a lemon

Method

  1. Put a clean saucer into the freezer to chill.
  2. Rinse the blackcurrants and drain well.
  3. Pick over the fruit removing any leaves or unripe fruit, or insects. You can leave the stalks as they will stay in the jelly bag
  4. Put into a large pan with the water and cook until soft and pulpy.
  5. Strain through a jelly bag and allow to drip for three or four hours.
  6. Measure the juice and heat in a pan.
  7. Add 500g  white sugar per 500ml of juice obtained, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
  8. Add the juice of the lemon
  9. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly for about 35-40 minutes, removing any scum that comes to the top.
  10. After 35 minutes you need to test for set - put a teaspoonful onto the chilled saucer from the freezer, if the edges wrinkle slightly when tipped, the jelly is ready.
  11. If not cook for another 5 minutes and test for the set again.
  12. Keep doing this until the jelly has set to your satisfaction.
  13. When the set is right, pour the hot jelly into hot sterilised jars and seal.

Tip: To sterilise jars, either place them in an oven preheated to 150°C /300°F for 10 minutes, or put them through a hot cycle in your dishwasher.

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