Redcurrants - little jewels.

Arch

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After work today, I raided the redcurrant bushes growing in the garden at the Environment Centre - with permission of course. The volunteers had already picked loads to make jam, but there were plenty left.

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I think redcurrants must be the most lovely fruit - like rubies or garnets.

I'm not a fan of fruit to snack on raw, but I do like redcurrant jelly very much, so that's what I'll make. Anyone got a favourite recipe? I've picked them over, and I've got just under a pound and a half. They've gone in the freezer while I collect enough jam jars (which I'll also get free, from the recycling).
 
Hmm. A quick google suggests 2 recipes (the first 2 listed).

One includes water to boil the fruit in, and all the stuff about testing the setting
http://www.makeitandmendit.com/redcurrant-jelly-from-the-allotment/

but this one from Delia seems to suggest no water, and no testing, just timing:
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/preserve/redcurrant-jelly.html

The first one is what I'd have expected, but Delia's looks easier... Any thoughts?

BTW, the BBC Good Food was useless. Searching 'redcurrant jelly' gives lots of recipes with it as an ingredient, but no recipe for making it!
 
And here's the finished jelly - 3 and a bit jars.
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The colour is fabulous!
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Rather a hot thing to be doing on an afternoon like today, and of course I managed to let the fruit boil over so there was a fair bit of hob cleaning to do.

I also bottled the chive flower vinegar I've had steeping for weeks:
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@arch which recipe did you follow in the end? I am curious because I have just been given around 750g of red currants (M-I-L) and fancy making them into a jam/jelly. did you need to add additional pectin or did you just use plain sugar?
 
I used plain sugar, and did the testing thing, on advice from some ladies at a farmers' market at the weekend.

the recipe I used was this one:
http://www.makeitandmendit.com/redcurrant-jelly-from-the-allotment/

Fortunately for my maths head, the amount of liquid I got from the strained pulp was just 500ml, so I could just use 450g sugar, and not have to do any calculating.

I tested at 7 minutes and wasn't quite convinced, so maybe gave it another 2 minutes. Seems to have set fine.

750g was not far off the quantity I had, so you can expect about the same amount as I got.
 
I've made it with Delia's recipe, and had excellent results. I stirred in a couple of tablespoons of port, while it was still hot, and after it had reached setting point. Wonderful!
 
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