Red Currant Jelly
A community recipe by The White RabbitNot tested or verified by Nigella.com
Introduction
I wanted to make this because I've never made a jelly before (been a jammer for about 15 years). It was interesting, different from jam but still has all those wonderful elements to it, like burning your tongue on the leftovers in the pan. Red currants are high pectin so you don't need to add any lemon juice. I only did a small amount, this makes it quite quick but you have to stand over it.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
- redcurrants (fresh, well washed)
- water
- sugar
Method
Red Currant Jelly is a community recipe submitted by The White Rabbit and has not been tested by Nigella.com so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe.
- Place redcurrants in a saucepan and cover with water. Boil until tender. Suspend a jelly bag over a bowl or put clean muslin (several layers) in a sieve over the bowl. Pour through a little boiling water and discard. Pour in contents of saucepan. Leave to drip overnight (I put it in the fridge) and don't be tempted to squeeze or squash it because it will make the jelly cloudy.
- Measure the volume of liquid. Calculate how much sugar you need - 450g per 600mL of liquid.
- Place sugar and liquid into a clean suacepan and stir over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved. At this point a fine white scum will appear on the surface (it's fine, you don't need to remove it). Increase the heat and boil. If you use a candy thermometer the gel point is 104C/220F. If not, start testing when the bubbles start breaking more slowly. The scum will attach to the sides of the pan, just leave it there and eat it afterwards. Test as per additional info below.
- Take off the heat when testing. Pour into hot sterlised jars - I wash the jars well then put them in the oven or if I only have a couple of jars I boil them in a saucepan of water. Put the lid on then allow to cool.
Additional Information
BetterLate's notes from when I asked about this on the forum: This general method should work, but as the quantities jammers/preservers usually work with are much larger than you have, you'll need to bear in mind that smaller amounts of water will evaporate more quickly so you may need to watch it and add more water in the initial cooking stage. Make sure your pan for the second stage is big enough to cope with the fast boiling, when it will bubbble up a lot, but of course don't try to use a proper preserving/jam pan for such a tiny amount. Wash fruit and place in a pan with sufficient water just to cover. Place pan on heat and simmer till fruit is tender. Pour into a jelly bag (you don't need a "proper" one for such a small quantity - improvise with one made from a piece of cheesecloth/muslin, either inside a sieve, or knotted to form a bag) over a clean pan. Don't squeeze the bag, unless you don't mind your jelly being cloudy: just allow it to drip until it has finished. Measure the juice, and add 450g of sugar per 600 ml of juice. (You'll need to do some maths at this point for your small quantity !) Return pan to heat and boil rapidly till setting point is reached: if you don't have a jam/sugar thermometer, do the saucer test*, removing the pan from the heat while you do it. When ready, skim off any scum and pour into clean hot jars. Cover immediately.
* Saucer test - have a saucer cooling in the fridge while you cook the preserve. Drop a small teaspoonful of jelly onto the saucer and return to the fridge for one minute. Push your finger through, and if the jelly wrinkles, it has reached setting point.
Tell us what you think
Thank you {% member.data['first-name'] %}.
Explore more recipesYour comment has been submitted.
What 2 Others have said
-
Posted by Cherryanne on 5th July 2020
-
Posted by Therez21 on 15th July 2015
Show more commentsQuite frankly I have been making redcurrant jelly for many years as I have two large bushes in the garden but now I always squeeze the bag to extract more juice and have never found that it makes the jelly cloudy at all. I don't go mad with the squeezing but it does get quite s bit more juice out, otherwise it's a bit wasteful. I also make Nigella's peach and redcurrant jam (Domestic Goddess) which is rather special.
Used your recipe to make my Red Currant Jelly this year. Total Success!!! In the past I tried the Gel Set Method but could never get it just right. With the thermometer at 220F, it was fool proof. I have a huge red currant bush in my yard. Your recipe will be the one I use from now on. Thanks.