Jul 28, 2014

My Favorite Summer Recipes: Currant Special

I got one and a half kilogram of red and black currant this year! :) I'ver never had that much :)
And now I want to share with you my delicious recipes...





































We have three bushes of black currant and two bushes of red currant. And we had a really great harvest from those five bushes this year! One and a half kilogram of currants :) That's simply amazing! In spring, we also planted a white currant bush. So, let's see when there are going to be some berries to taste... :)
This year I have made some black currant and red wine compote and some red currant marmelade. The remaining red and black currants became marmelade as well *yum* :)













Besides sharing recipes, in this post I want to show you how you can preserve your fruits (and veggies) using the oven.

Black Currant and Red Wine Compote

Ingredients:
1kg black currants
400g sugar
200ml red wine
optional: 1 tbsp crushed coriander seeds (if you like your sweets a bit spicy)


Prepare your ingredients, wash the currants and remove the stems.
















Mix all the ingredients into a big pot and stir a bit. Leave it soaking in the fridge for at least a couple of hours or over night if you can.








When the currants are ready and soaked nicely, prepare your jars.
Before filling in the hot compote you should fill some hot (not boiling) water into the jars to prevent them from breaking.
Preheat the oven to 170-180°C using the lower heat setting. Put in a deep baking tray.





Now bring the soaked currants to the boil, while stirring continously and boil for about 12-15 minutes.
(while enjoying the wonderful smell :) )

Meanwhile, boil up some water in the electric kettle.












Fill the compote in the jars and close them securely. Put them onto the baking tray and add the water from the electric kettle.
As soon as some small bubbles appear in the glasses (which should be after about 40-50 minutes), turn off the oven and leave the jars in there for about 25 more minutes.








After those 25 minutes you want to take the jars out of the oven and let them cool down on a grid in room temperature. (if you let them cool down in the oven the compote will turn sour because of bacteria that will develop if the compote cools down too slow)






And there you go! :)
Delicious black currant and red wine compote :)



















Red Currant Marmelade (without seeds)

Ingredients:
1kg red currants
400g sugar
25g gelling powder


Prepare all ingredients. Wash the currants and remover the stems.










Now all those seeds are getting removed because it gives a much nicer marmelade.
First step: Without adding anything, cook the currants for a few minutes, so they are getting smooth.







For the next step you can use a normal strainer or you can, use a blender with a strainer attachment. This really is one of the greatest attachments for blenders ever! I like it a lot :)

Now, simply remove the stopper on top and fill the cooked currants into the little hole, so they are inside the strainer.











Turn on the blender and ta daa! Out comes only the good stuff, no more seeds :)
Now carefully fill this fruit pulp back into a pot.
Repeat until all of the currants have been filtered like this.













Prepare your jars and fill them with hot water to prevent them from breaking.









Also, boil the lids for some minutes to sterilise them.

Now mix sugar and gelling powder first and then add the mixture to the currants.
Boil it up while stirring the whole time! Let boil for at least 3 minutes.








Then fill up the jars and close the lids very carfully.
Turn the jars upside down for 5 minutes.
Let cool down.
















And there you've got your perfect home made marmelade! :) Look at that color! :)
No food coloring or artificial preservatives necessary! I almost never buy marmelade. There is enough fruit in the garden to get us through the year ;) I think that it doesn't take that much time to make your own. And it's easy, plus you get to decide for yourself how much sugar you want to add or what creative fruit combinations you want to try! :)

I hope you like my recipes and enjoy the summer :)
/Stefanie






























Find all the other favorite summer recipes here:
Coffee Syrup
Mint'n'Lemon Iced Tea
Strawberry Special


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