Farm to Plate - Currant Jelly

I have seen currants on a lot of European blogs. They looked kind of pretty and when I had the chance to grow them in my farm, I planted a couple of baby currant bushes. The first three years the plant grew vigorously and I was reluctant to trim it. The berries were hard to reach and the few that ripened were hidden in a mass of leaves. Last year I started reading about pruning and figured out how to prune the bushes. Pruned them in early spring as recommended. This summer we have an abundance of fruit but the problem now seems to be how to harvest them. The 3 lbs of fruit that we harvested was made into jelly.

The fruit are not that great was eating like other berries. They have seeds and are tart. But they are perfect for making jelly. I used the recipe from Martha Stewart for the measurement of sugar and fruit. I had a little over 3 lbs of currants. Using a recipe that calls for fruit but uses the juice is always tricky because the given measurement of fruit does not give the required amount of juice or pulp. Adjust the sugar quantity of the juice the fruit eventually produces. The recipe from Martha Stewart said 4 cups of juice for 3 lbs of currants. I got about 3 cups of juice for the same quantity.



If you want a plant that regularly produces fruit for a jelly but you don't want to do too much work, currant bushes are the plants for you. If planting and then harvesting fruit seems like something you don't want to do, look for them in farmer's market or see if a friend grows them ;)

The jelly making process is pretty easy. Making jelly at home means you can control the amount of sugar and the ingredients that go into it. Here it is just 2. What more can you ask?

Wash and drain the currants and add to a thick bottomed vessel with about 1/3 cups of water.
Cook the currants till they are soft and mushy. Use a hand blender or a back of a laddle to break them down further.
Strain the currants through a mesh strainer to get the juice.
Add the sugar to the juice and let it come to a boil.
Cook for about 20 - 25 minutes till a drop placed in a plate of water does not dissolve.
Transfer to sterilized jars.

With some bread toasted with butter or ghee morning breakfast is fun and delicious.

Currant Jelly
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients

1. 3 1/2 lbs of currant which yielded 3 cups of juice
2. 2 1/4 cups of sugar

Method

1. Wash the currant and remove the stems. Take them in a thick bottomed pan with about 1/3 cup of water. Let it come to a boil and become soft about 8-10 minutes.
2. You can use the laddle to mash the fruit. I use the hand blender to further break down the fruit.
3. Use a fine mesh strainer to strain the skin and seeds to get the juice.
4. Take the juice and the sugar in a heavy bottomed pot. Let it cook for about 20 - 25 minutes till a drop poured on a plate with water does not dissolve in the water.
5. Transfer to sterilized jars.

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