Red Currant Jelly

This summer, I got a whole pound (!) of currants out of our Red Lake Currant bush. There'd be more if it could get more sun ... Still, I'm pleased! This is about twice as much as last year.



This afternoon, I cooked them down into jelly with a very simple recipe.

Red Currant Jelly

Red Currants
Sugar
small amount of water

Soak the currants to clean them. Don't worry about removing the stems.
In a saucepan with about 1-2 T. water, heat the currants on medium-high for about 8 minutes, until the berries have popped and the juice has been released. Run it through a strainer. Push as much juice through with the back of a spoon. Discard the mash. Save the juice.

Weigh the juice. And pour it back into the saucepan.
Add an equal amount of sugar.
Beware : There may be a tendancy to skimp on the sugar here : it's the sugar that activates the natural pectin in the berries. Without enough sugar, you'll have a nice syrup, not jelly.

Simmer the currant juice and sugar for about 20 minutes. Then pour into clean jelly jars and admire your work!

It looks like this batch actually jelled! It's been difficult to get a good picture of the beautiful red color ... Here I tried to get them back-lit by the fridge light--It sort-of worked.