No-Cooking, No-Canning Black Currant Jam – A Gardener's Table (2024)

FAQs

Do I need to top and tail blackcurrants for jam? ›

First of all, I remove the leaves and any insects crawling about in the bowl. Then I pick the currants off any stems. After that, I go through and pinch off the stem from any berries that have a lot of stem attached. I don't top and tail them as it would take far too long and isn't necessary.

But for jam that my own family will be eating, I simply fill my jars with hot jam, screw on the lids, cool to room temperature, and then store them in my freezer. If you have the freezer space, this is a great option for keeping the jam fresh, without needing to bother with the canning process.

If you have a recipe that calls for currant jelly as an ingredient and you don't have any homemade currant jelly and you can't find it in stores, try substituting apple jelly or grape jelly. They don't have the same flavor (or color) but do have the same texture and bring a fruity flavor.

Blackcurrant Conserve340g

Stute Blackcurrant Conserve (Extra Jam) is made with 100% whole fruit with no added colours, no artificial preservatives & no artificial additives. With an improved soft set recipe this jam is perfect on toast, in a cake or with afternoon tea!

So if you use pieces of fruit or whole berries, you are actually using less fruit than if it were mashed, or cooked to a mash and then measured, and you will get a firmer jell. Or you may have used more pectin than the recipe called for. For example, if you used Tablespoons of pectin rather than teaspoons.

If you're making fruit jam at home and skipping the canning process, what is often called quick jam or freezer jam, store in the fridge or freezer to preserve, and be aware that it should be consumed within 10 days if refrigerated and 3 months if frozen. It's not shelf stable without proper canning.

Mason jars are made for canning food. You don't want that food to spoil. You seal the jar by sterilizing the jar, and by putting hot food in it and putting the seal on, then screw the lid on. As the contents cool, the air inside will contract causing the lid to seal tight.

Sugar aids in gel formation, develops flavor by adding sweetness, and acts as a preservative.

The antioxidants in black currants help to fight free radicals in the body. They also help to reduce cell damage that can otherwise lead to certain types of cancer. Anthocyanins in black currants may even help to slow the development of existing cancer cells on the liver.

What do Americans have instead of blackcurrant? ›

In the UK and other countries, the standard flavour for purple/black-coloured fruit sweets is blackcurrant. Except in America - where they are black grape flavour instead. Blackcurrants were once as popular in the US as they are elsewhere - but they were banned in the early 1900s.

Frozen blackcurrants are perfect for jam, not only do they provide a delicious flavour, but as we freeze our blackcurrants as soon as they have been harvested, during the peak of their short season, you can make high-quality jam at any time of the year.

Gooseberries and currants are very closely related, being members of the same genus Ribes, however, they do have a few major differences. Gooseberries tend to have significantly larger fruit than currants and they have thorns on their stems.

Almost all fruit contains some acid, but the natural amount of acid can differ between fruit types, and even from batch to batch of the same type of fruit. To ensure that my jam has a proper acid level to gel properly and limit bacteria growth, I always add lemon juice to a jam mixture.

While jam must come from one type of fruit to have that legal designation, conserves can be made with an additional berry or stone fruit in the mix. Jams that include pieces of nuts, coconut, or raisins are called conserves.

Lightly pick over the redcurrants, removing any leaves and fibrous stalks— no need to top and tail them or strip them off their stalks.

In order for a jam to set, you need enough pectin and acid. If either are missing, the jam or jelly won't set. You can test for both pectin and acid levels. Then, if there is enough pectin, the jam needs to be boiled for long enough to allow the pectin molecules to bind together.

Blackcurrants aren't usually sweet enough to eat straight from the bush, but you can boil them up with sugar to make a delicious coulis for ice cream or Greek yoghurt.

And also different varieties grow to different heights. 1.5m high is about average. At that height a couple of our blackcurrant bushes do need some support for a few of the branches when the fruit forms.