Home › Preserve Recipes › Black Currant Jelly
Black Currant Jelly
Black currants Raspberries 6 Water Sugar To every four pounds of black currants allow one pound of raspberries. Pluck the roughest of the stalks from the currants, and the stems and the leaves from the raspberries, and put them into a fireproof dish with half a pint of water. Boil them for ten minutes after they have begun to simmer. Then squeeze out all the juice that can be got quite clear and free from specks. Measure it, allow one pound of sugar to each pint of juice, and a pound over if there are more than four pints, half a pound if under that quantity.
Put it on the fire, and stir till the sugar is all melted; then bring it to the boil, and allow it to bubble for ten minutes. Skim it, if necessary, and pot it.
It should be kept in a cool, dry place after being fastened down so as to be air-tight.
A plain high-pectin jelly that needs no commercial pectin, only attention to the sugar ratio and the setting point. The book's measures are imperial, which matters here because the whole recipe is built on pints of juice.
- Imperial pintsAn imperial pint is 20 fl oz, about 570 ml, not the 16 fl oz US pint. The half pint of water for the initial boil is roughly 285 ml, and "one pound of sugar to each pint of juice" works out near 450 g sugar to 570 ml juice.
- The fireproof dishThe instructions to boil the fruit and later to 'put it on the fire' suggest a vessel used directly over the heat rather than in the oven. Use a wide, heavy, non-reactive pan: aluminium and bare cast iron will react with the fruit acid and dull the colour.
- Why raspberriesBlack currants are one of the highest-pectin and highest-acid fruits in the kitchen, so the jelly will set almost regardless. The recipe gives no reason for the pound of raspberries to every four of currants; the likely effect is added perfume and a softening of the currants' sharp, almost resinous flavour.
- Straining versus squeezingThe instruction to squeeze out all the juice will give you more yield but a cloudier jelly. For a clear set, hang the pulp in a scalded jelly bag or double muslin and let it drip for several hours without pressing.
- The extra sugarThe recipe adds a pound over for more than four pints of juice, half a pound under that quantity. It gives no reason for the allowance. If you skip it, expect a slightly softer, fruitier set.
- Ten minutes is a guide, not a ruleBoil hard and start testing at eight minutes. The jelly is done at 220F (105C) on a sugar thermometer, or when a spoonful chilled on a cold saucer wrinkles when pushed. Overboiled black currant jelly turns dark and tastes of caramel.
- Potting and sealingThe recipe asks only that the jars be 'fastened down so as to be air-tight' and kept cool and dry, relying on the sugar for preservation; covers of the period were commonly waxed discs and parchment tied with string. Pot into sterilised jars, seal while hot, and either water-bath process by current guidance for long storage or keep the jars refrigerated and use within a few months.
- YieldFour pounds of currants with a pound of raspberries will give a few pints of juice; the exact amount depends heavily on how hard the pulp is pressed, and the finished quantity of jelly is greater than the volume of juice once the sugar is dissolved.
Black currants have been a British hedge and kitchen-garden staple for centuries, valued as much for the medicine chest as for the table: currant jelly stirred into hot water was a traditional household remedy for sore throats long before anyone measured the fruit's vitamin C, which is exceptionally high. The bush's fortunes diverged sharply across the Atlantic, where *Ribes* species were identified as an alternate host for white pine blister rust and cultivation was restricted in the United States from the early twentieth century, which is why black currant jelly stayed an everyday English preserve while remaining a curiosity in American kitchens.