Redcurrants Galore!

foreign_correspondent

I made some redcurrant cordial last year - invented the recipe myself, but it worked very well - I will type it up and post it if anyone would like it?

CCP

I've received a rather generous punnet of redcurrants in today's fruit/veg box, and I'm struggling to think what to do with them. My mum used to make a gorgeous raspberry & redcurrant jam, but I've never made jam and don't have a suitable pan or any pots to put jam in, so that's a non-starter (shame, really - my parents don't have room to grow redcurrants in their current place so I haven't had r&r jam in years!).

Anyway, can anyone suggest something nice to do with my currant bounty, please?

thriftlady_2

When you say a punnet how much do you mean? To me a punnet isn't enough to make jam or jelly.

Sounds like enough for dessert for the next few days though. Try this- take them off the stalks if they've come with them by running a fork through them as if you were combing them.

Then put them in a shallow dish and sprinkle with sugar bearing in mind they are quite tart.

Then leave overnight.

Serve with thick cream and meringues if you have them, on top of a cheesecake or more simply on their own in a bowl.

They go well with peaches and nectarines.

thriftlady_2

CCP wrote: »

- my parents don't have room to grow redcurrants in their current place so I haven't had r&r jam in years!).

?

So their current place is not really a currant place then?

Sorry, couldn't resist:o

CCP

That sounds good, Thriftlady - I didn't realise you could eat redcurrants without cooking them.

The punnet's about 10oz / 280g, including stalks - I thought it might be enough to make one jar of jam when mixed with raspberries (although, as I say, I've never made jam so my estimate of quanitites might be completely out).

And no, my parent's current place isn't a currant place - it's berry different. (Sorry, that's weak - my puns aren't usually that bad, I promise!)

thriftlady_2

CCP wrote: »

And no, my parent's current place isn't a currant place - it's berry different. (Sorry, that's weak - my puns aren't usually that bad, I promise!)

No, no I like that:D

You could probably make a small amount of jam. My solitary redcurrant bush produced enough fruit for 1 jar of jelly. Redcurrants have lots of pectin so they are a good fruit to add to low pectin fruits like strawberries.

valk_scot

My seven year old could shift a 10 oz punnet of redcurrants in one sitting....

Anyway, how about redcurrents in jelly, redcurrent pavlova or just squashing them up with some sugar in a pan, bringing it up to the boil, turning the heat off, let it cool and then pour over ice cream? This last can be made with all sorts of mixed berries and frozen. Seriously yummy!

attentionseeker1

I got some redcurrants in my box recently too- I made them into a crumble with an apple chopped up. Nobody ever seems to eat them that way but I thought it was nice- just like a summer fruits crumble type thing. I expect that would also work as some kind of strudel. Otherwise, I would go with valk_scot and turn into a pavlova

valk_scot

Oh, well reminded! Redcurrants are THE soft fruit for Summer Pudding!

CCP

From having no ideas I've now almost got too many - thanks, everyone! :beer:

I've just discovered that Tesco have Ben & Jerry's ice cream on special offer at the mo, so I think I'll cook the redcurrants into sauce and pour over some B&J strawberry cheesecake ice cream. :drool:

Then I'll go and order some more currants from the veg box company and see about making a small batch of raspberry and redcurrant jam: I've been planning to try jam-making now I've finally got a flat with a decent size kitchen! Can anyone advise me whether I need a special pan for making jam, or if my normal non-stick one will be OK? (Sorry, that should probably be a new thread, shouldn't it?)