White Currant Jam
Introduction
One of the curiosities of white currants is that they make a red jam. White currants are the sweetest of all the currants, and this white currant jam really is delicious.
The method described here involves straining the white currants to remove the skin. The jam is made from the juice (making a jelly).
White currants can be hard to find if you are not growing your own. Alternatively, try following the same recipe using redcurrants or blackcurrants.
Step By Step Video
Notes
It takes time to separate the currants from their stalks. I often prepare the currants the day before making the jam, starting by soaking them in water for 10 minutes or so, before rinsing in a colander and removing the stalks. The currants store well in the fridge until you have time to make the jam.
Before starting cooking the jam, I have everything prepared to sterilise the jam jars and lids. That way, as soon as the jam is ready, I can decant it straightaway into the jars.
Ingredients
Scale up and down the recipe according to how much fruit you have, keeping the proportions the same.
- 1 kg of white currants
- 1 kg of sugar
- 550 ml of water
The recipe makes 3 regular sized jars of jam.
Video Transcript
White currant jam sets easily and tastes indulgently sweet. White currants have been breed from redcurrants, and it is interesting twist that homemade white currant jam has a reddish pink colour.
White currants are rarely seen in the shops, and if you are lucky enough to have a successful harvest at home, or a farm nearby to pick your own, you will be in for a real, and exclusive, treat. White currants are delicious and easy to eat raw, and any surplus can be turned into jam.
Making jam from white currants is a labour of love. Hopefully there will be something good on the telly or radio whilst you prepare the fruit. Give the white currants a thorough rinse in water before starting by removing the stalks. You could try sliding the fruit off the branches using an eating fork, but I found this often left the small stalks attached to the fruit. So I ended up removing the stalks one by one.
An hour or so later the fruit was ready, and I confess to eating quite a few along the way.
The first step is to extract the juice from the white currants, which I think technically make this white currant jam recipe a jelly. Extracting the juice is well worth it, as the fruit is very small and therefore has lots of skin, which is less than ideal in a jam.
To get the juice, cover the fruit with the measured volume of water and transfer it to the hob set to a high heat, in order to bring it to boiling point. It only needs 5 minutes of so to simmer, just enough to soften the fruit. You will see the skin of the currants starting to burst.
Strain the whole mixture into a large bowl. To get all the juice I could out of the currants, I pushed down hard using the back of a wooden spoon. I needed to do this in two batches as I had a large quantity of currants to press. The end result was a golden liquid ready for jam making.
Before putting back on the hob, pour the sugar into the juice and give the pan a good stir. All jams use a lot of sugar, that’s why they taste so good and store well.
It does not matter if the sugar is not completely dissolved before you put the pan back onto a high heat. The heat will help dissolve the sugar. Keep on stirring the mixture regularly.
Once the juice has a roaring boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. The great thing about white currant jam is that the fruit naturally has pectin, and pectin has a vital role in helping jam to set.
I used a wooden spoon to check for when the juice was starting to thicken. As soon as you see this, pour out some juice onto a cold plate. After a few seconds, you can tell if the jam is ready by seeing if it has a formed a skin. If it does not, transfer back to the hob and test again after a minute or so.
I sterilise my jam jar lids by boiling in water for a few minutes, and my jam jars by heating for 20 minutes in a hot oven set to 120 °C.
The jam needs to be poured into the jam jars whilst the jars, and the jam, are hot. Leave around 1.5 centimetres, or half an inch, at the top of the jar. This air gap is important to create an air tight seal. Clean any jam that accidentally spills onto the sides of the jam jar, then carefully screw on the lids, being careful to avoid burning your hands. After a few minutes your should hear a pop, as the air cools and contracts, forming an air tight seal.
Any left over jam can be poured into a bowl or small container. It will store very well in the fridge for a week or so, if it lasts that long!
The jam looks delicious and is delicious. I hope you can find your way of getting hold of the white currants! Enjoy.