Blackcurrant Jam - General Description
Without exaggerating at all, it can be argued that currants are a real storehouse of health. Its dense, slightly tart, small berries contain twice as much potassium as overseas bananas, and 4 times more vitamin C than the recognized leaders of citrus lemon and orange. In order to provide the body with a daily need for vitamin C, it is enough to eat only 15 berries, so doctors advise to use it with a winter lack of vitamins, lung and catarrhal diseases.
It enhances blood formation and protects the intestines from fermentation processes, lowers the acidity of the stomach and improves metabolic processes in the body. In addition, it is twice as ahead of blueberries in the amount of antioxidants and fully justifies its nickname "pharmacy from the branch" by the fact that during processing and preservation, unlike other berries and fruits, it practically does not lose its beneficial properties.
Currant has an incomparable fresh aroma, which was so called - blackcurrant. It is given by fresh shoots, buds, leaves and, of course, berries.
Favorite berry is perfect for making fragrant tasty and healthy jam. The bright and rich taste of currant jam is distinguished by a luxurious palette with a light bitterness, it can not be confused with other berries. Cooking currant jam is not difficult, although the preparation process takes much longer than the cooking itself. Gathering and sorting berries is a laborious task that requires patience and attention.
Blackcurrant jam - cooking utensils
The jars in which we plan to lay the jam should be prepared in advance, washed thoroughly, doused with boiling water and dried. The lids for the currant are taken only varnished, as it is capable of oxidation, and the metal becomes black or dark purple. For the same reason, only enameled cookware is selected for cooking.
You can prepare berries for cooking in a plastic or plastic bowl, grind with a wooden crush, since the use of metal objects reduces the concentration of vitamin C.
Blackcurrant jam - fruit preparation
Harvesting currant fruits begins about a week after its full maturity. As soon as the berries are completely blackened, you can start picking the berries, and try not to overexpose them on the branch, since, in addition to the fact that they can crack, leak juice and fall off, after 2 weeks after ripening, the concentration of vitamins decreases by 50 - 60%. Rainy weather affects them even more negatively.
Berries of blackcurrant do not store for a long time without a refrigerator. They are harvested in dry weather with slept dew, it is best to pick the berries with brushes, and then sort out and separate the tails. Separately collected berries should be spread in a thin layer and pre-dried.
Before cooking, the berries are sorted, the remains of the sepals are removed with scissors and allowed to drain water.
Blackcurrant jam - recipe 1
Water 500 gr
Currant berries 1 kg
Sugar 1.5 kg.
Pour sugar with water and bring to a boil, filter the mixture. Pour the finished syrup in its pure form into enameled dishes and gently spread the prepared berries, put on a small fire. This recipe allows you to cook beautiful jam in one go, while the foam is completely removed. After only 10 minutes, your jam is ready - put it in jars, cork it and turn it upside down.
Blackcurrant jam - recipe 2 (no cooking)
Currant 1kg
Sugar 1-1.5 kg + another 100 g.
Pour well-dried currants into a plastic container (you can take a plastic one), rub it with a wooden crush, mix thoroughly. You can skip currants through a large grinder grinder (diameter 2.5 mm). Let stand for 5-10 minutes, and lay out on the banks. Top with sugar and tightly clog. This jam should be stored in the refrigerator or in the cellar for a year, the temperature should not be higher than 1 degree, so that all the useful properties of currants remain.
Blackcurrant jam - recipe 3. Five minutes.
This is a very quick recipe for cooking jam, allowing you to save the whole fruit and most vitamins. As a rule, other berries are cooked according to such recipes without adding water, but an exception is made for currants.
Currant 9 cups
Raspberries 3 cups
Sugar 15 cups
Water 300 grams
Dry the prepared berries. Mix half sugar, berry and water, bring to a boil, cook exactly 5 minutes. Remove from heat, pour out the remaining sugar and mix until completely dissolved. Roll up hot.
Blackcurrant jam Recipe 4
Sugar 1 kg
Blackcurrant puree 1.25 kg
At the beginning of cooking, half the sugar is mixed with mashed potatoes, boiled until the sugar is completely dissolved, it will take 20 minutes. Add the second part of sugar, stir and boil until tender (another 15-20 minutes). We spread it in jars or wooden boxes covered with parchment, cool.
Blackcurrant jam - useful tips from experienced chefs
- There are many ways to diversify the taste of jam. One of them is mixing different berries, for example, gooseberries and currants or raspberries, gooseberries and currants. In this case, the number of berries is most easily measured in glasses. The main thing is to withstand the proportions of berries and sugar, for example, in 15 glasses of berries there can be 2 glasses of raspberries, 2 glasses of gooseberries, and the rest is currant, while 15 glasses are taken for cooking sugar.
- A more delicate taste of berries is obtained if you first blanch them in a juicer for 2-3 minutes. At the same time, they do not wrinkle and are completely filled with juice.
- To prepare jelly from currants, juice from red and black varieties is used. At the same time, it is boiled with sugar and filtered through 2-3 layers of gauze or flannel. Sugar in this case is taken less than for jam - 800 grams is enough for 1 kg. Otherwise, the technology for making jelly is similar to cooking ordinary jam, boil it until the foam ceases to stand out.
- If you suffer from thrombophlebitis, with this disease, currant jam is contraindicated, as it increases blood coagulation. Do not be discouraged - try it a little and treat friends and relatives!
Advice from a concerned reader
Dear editors and personally Ekaterina Danilova,
Today my wife is going to cook blackcurrant jam according to your recipe.
I picked berries yesterday morning, and this morning she asked for help and "prepare" the berries for cooking.
Being a docile person, I agreed.
Then I read in your recipe that “the remains of the sepals should be removed with scissors” and looked with horror at the tub with 3 kg of black currant.
I did not even try with ordinary scissors, I immediately took up manicure.
After an hour of painstaking work, the 200 grams were already ready, and the scissors became dull at the end!
And then I realized that I couldn’t have time to finish this work before such a divorce ...
He took a regular flat file (new) in the workshop, washed it thoroughly with soap and tried to cut away the remains of the sepals with it. And then my manicure room worked in a Stakhanov style!
Two three passes back and forth and the hard sepal turned into a thin soft ass.
In this case, the berry should be squeezed a little on the reverse side so that the sepal sticks out.
Not a single berry burst from such a technology. Fast and productive. I managed it in two hours.
Take note of my experience! Do not waste your time!
Respectfully,
Katso
From the editor
Dear Katso!
Our entire editorial staff, as well as myself, are immeasurably delighted with your savvy, persistence, and concern for our readers.
Let me note the wonderful style of presentation of the advice, combined with an amazing knowledge of the Russian language.
We hope that the joint preparation and subsequent use of blackcurrant jam will make your divorce irrelevant.
Thank you for your feedback. In this way, together we will definitely make our site better!
Thanks, Ekaterina Danilova
