Redcurrant jam: 8 recipes

In the collection of an experienced hostess, there are sure to be a couple of recipes for making red currant jam. And the point here is not a passion for diversity, but the unique properties of this berry.

Secrets of a Ruby Brush

Her taste with a slight tart tint is familiar to many from childhood. At the dacha or the infield, one or two bushes will certainly be found. The plant is valued by summer residents for their unpretentiousness, resistance to frost and drought, high immunity to fungal and bacterial diseases. Delicate currant leaves are very fond of aphids, but the problem is solved by regular preventive treatments.

Interesting: although the plant is attacked by aphids, other pests do not risk approaching it. They are scared away by a specific smell.

Bushes of red currant are able to bear fruit up to 20 years. They are updated annually; instead of dying branches, new ones are formed. The gardener's task is to thin out and cut dried shoots in time. The plant loves sunny open places, perfectly takes root along fences, guaranteeing additional protection from the wind. It blooms in May, begins to bear fruit in late June. Unlike black berries, they are sung almost simultaneously, becoming red in 2-3 days. Brushes are very similar to bird cherry, have an elongated shape. Berries are planted more rarely than black ones, slightly smaller in diameter. By the way, she sings 2 weeks earlier than her dark relative.

The homeland of the plant is called Western Europe, where it is still found in the wild. In Russia, red fruit was cultivated in monastery gardens, as mentioned in the annals.

Useful properties of the plant

Berries and leaves of the bush are used in many recipes of traditional medicine. They have anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, immunomodulatory, astringent, diuretic effects. Decoctions, infusions, freshly squeezed juice is recommended:

• to stimulate peristalsis;
• vascular strengthening;
• reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke;
• prevention of atherosclerosis;
• arousal of appetite;
• increase immunity;
• vitamin deficiency warnings;
• improve blood composition;
• stabilization of blood pressure;
• relieving the constant anxiety syndrome and leveling the emotional background.

The use of red currants in folk medicine

For medicinal gatherings, fruits and leaves are harvested in the summer. When dried, they are great for fruit tea, recommended as a diuretic, decongestant. Such a drink is able to stabilize blood pressure, increase immunity, and reduce the likelihood of developing atherosclerosis and cancer.

Spring is more suitable for harvesting green mass when the leaves are still full of life-giving juices. The berries are allowed to be ripened and harvested in late June. Raw materials are dried naturally in a shady, cool, well-ventilated place. Shelf life is 1 year.

Fresh berry is successfully used in cosmetology to cleanse and improve skin. Enjoying the fruits, you can completely crush a couple in the fingers and apply for several minutes on the skin of the face, and then rinse with warm water or chamomile infusion. Fruit acids stimulate blood circulation, lighten age spots.

A anti-wrinkle mask based on currant juice slows down aging, improves skin turgor, and tightens the oval of the face. At 2 tbsp. tablespoons of berry gruel take 1 tablespoon of sour cream and liquid honey. The mixture is heated in a water bath to a comfortable temperature and applied for 10 minutes. Wash off with warm water.

The composition and calorie content of red currant

Translucent berries contain a whole complex of valuable substances. The centerpiece is vitamin A, indispensable for supporting visual acuity, bone structure, and regeneration processes. No less important is the complex of vitamins B, as well as H, PP, K, C. The iodine content in the pulp is second only to feijoa. Of the micro and macro elements, an important place is given to potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, magnesium. Pectin gives berries an anti-radiation effect, coumarins reduce blood viscosity, fruit acids quickly make up for a lack of energy during overwork, heavy physical exertion, and intense training.

The calorie content of fresh fruits does not exceed 39 kcal per 100 g of product. In dried, it rises to 283 kcal, in jam and pastille, the indicators will also be impressive, which should be taken into account by people adhering to special dietary regimes.

At first, only medicinal properties were seen in the berries, then their palatability was also recognized.

Popular varieties

Most of the berries are processed, because their taste is quite tart and sour. But there are varieties and dessert row. They are great for juices and fresh consumption. The most delicious and unpretentious in cultivation are called varieties:

• Beloved;
• Roland
• Early sweet;
• Chulkovskaya;
• Ilyinka;
• Hazora
• Baraba
• Alpha;
• Ural beauty;
• Scarlet Dawn;
• Natalie;
• Rosetta.

They have different fruiting periods - from the end of June to the first days of August, which makes it possible to make real culinary masterpieces from a mixture of berries and fruits.

What is useful red currant jam

The main purpose of the product is to slow down aging, preserve skin turgor, bind and eliminate free radicals. Currant jam helps reduce temperature and pressure, make up for the lack of vitamins, speed up metabolism.

There are 3 ways to save red berries for the winter:

• to dry;
• to freeze;
• make jam.

When dried, they acquire high calorie content and lose their unique taste juice. Frozen berries store a substantial supply of vitamins, retain their taste, but eating them just like that, without additional processing, is no longer very pleasant. They defrost when defrosted.

Jam stores a sufficient amount of nutrients, especially if you use the short-term heating method. 50–70 g of jam improves mood, stabilizes blood pressure, relieves swelling, reduces the frequency of heart rhythms, and replenishes the deficiency of iodine and vitamin A. In sealed cans, such a treat is stored for 1-2 years without loss of taste and benefit.

How to choose red currant for jam

The variety in this case is not important. All attention should be directed to the search for quality berries, since the slightest hint of stale weather will cause the fermentation of the finished product. During an external examination, you need to pay attention to the fact that the berries are whole, not crushed. The container in which they are located must be dry. Berries, at the slightest touch, flying off the brush, probably already ripened or are on the verge of this.You can buy them, but on condition that you start cooking jam immediately. The saturated color indicates the full ripeness of the berries.

Please note: in different varieties, the color intensity of the fruit is different - from pink to almost burgundy.

Considering the options, it is worth trying the attracted berries on the acid level. This indicator will affect the amount of sugar in the recipe and the possibility of adding other components.

If the initial product for winter harvesting sings on a personal site, then even easier. You need to wait until most of the berries reach maturity, especially since the process takes place simultaneously. If there is still no certainty in the choice of the recipe, then it is worth buying currants in small portions for tasting a new way of preparing goodies. Leaving it in the refrigerator for longer than 24 hours is not recommended. Despite the cool conditions, it quickly deteriorates.

Prepare the berry for any recipe the same way. It is peeled from the twigs, washed thoroughly, left in a colander for 10-15 minutes to make the glass water. Then pour it into a container for cooking.

How to cook redcurrant jam: recipes

Harvesting for the winter takes a lot of time in the season, but without them, the time until spring will seem boring and bland. Vitamin deficiency is also not asleep, and instead of natural support, you will have to run to the pharmacy for completely unappetizing pills and dragees. Nature gives a great chance to do without synthetic additives for those who are ready to make an effort and learn some simple and tasty recipes from red currant.

"Live" berry

Heat treatment destroys some of the nutrients. They break up, lowering the product's utility level. But it is not necessary to boil the berries in order to preserve their summer taste and aroma. It is enough to adopt an old recipe. You need currants and sugar in a ratio of 1: 2. The berries are thoroughly kneaded, sugar is added gradually, in small portions. The result is a homogeneous aromatic mass. It is poured into sterilized jars, covered with lids or wax paper and stored only in the refrigerator on the lower shelf. A high concentration of granulated sugar does not allow berry puree to ferment, preserving it in a natural way.

Important: to preserve the taste and extend the shelf life, it is recommended to use only ceramic or enameled containers. To knead the berries, you will have to take a wooden crush, excluding any contact of the mixture with metal.

Classics of the genre

There is nothing superfluous in it, only berries, sugar and patience. Currants contain a large percentage of juice, so you do not need to add water. You just need to fill it with sugar and put it in a warm place for several hours. The proportion of products is 1: 1. If currants are very acidic, then the norm of granulated sugar can be increased by 200 g.

The berries are very tender, with a thin skin, so you do not have to cook them for a long time. If you take a single cooking without cooling, it will take only 10-15 minutes on medium heat. The mass is poured into cans in hot form and immediately rolled up.

A moment

A universal solution for those who want to preserve vitamins, but are not ready to take risks with fresh berry mass. The idea is minimal heat treatment. The berries pre-filled with sugar are brought to a boil and turned off immediately after the appearance and removal of the foam. Usually this happens within 2-3 minutes, so the recipe matches its name.

Apple Currant Delight

Sweet apples perfectly shade currant sourness. Early varieties, such as Kitayka golden, White filling, Robin, are beginning to bear fruit. Fruits do not lie for long, their limit is 2-3 weeks. It is better to process them immediately, so the ability to cook two-component jam will come in handy.

For cooking, you need 600 g of sugar and berries per 400 g of apple slices without seeds. The ingredients are immediately placed in a pan with a thick bottom and incubated for 3-4 hours to obtain juice. Then, with continuous stirring, bring the mass to a boil and cook, depending on the desired consistency. The longer the boiling time, the thicker the mixture. Optimal - 15 minutes. The jam will be viscous, but will stick well on a piece of bread.

Alternatively, the fruit and berry mass is preliminarily passed through a blender and cooked immediately. It turns out a jam prototype.

Berry mix

If you managed to buy early raspberries and strawberries, or these varieties grow in a summer cottage, then you should grab luck by the tail and be sure to try one of the most delicious recipes. Berries are taken in equal proportions, for 1 kg of the mixture you will need an equal amount of granulated sugar. You can cook a treat in 2 ways.

1. Separately, boil the sugar syrup and 1 cup of water, pour the berries into it and leave for 2 hours. Then the whole mass is boiled on slow heating for 20 minutes and poured into cans.
2. The mixture of berries is covered with sugar, aged for 2 hours and boiled for 20-25 minutes. You have to stir continuously. Raspberries have the property of sticking to the bottom of the pot and immediately taking to flight with the slightest weakening of control. Currants have a high content of vitamin C, so you can not sterilize the jars, it will play the role of a natural preservative.

The resulting product looks very impressive, especially if you take the yellow varieties of raspberries. The taste is incomparable.

Red currants with raisins and orange

An interesting combination of citrus and grape notes with currant astringency gives the jam an exquisite taste. It is very fragrant and tender. You’ll have to tinker a bit, but the result is worth it. Composition:

• currants and sugar - 600 g each;
• large sweet orange - 2 pcs.;
• seedless raisins light - 400 g;
• water - 50 ml.

First, peeled orange is cut into thin rings and laid on the bottom of the pan. Water is poured into it and boiled for 7-8 minutes until the skin softens. Then add the remaining components, cook for 10 minutes on low heat and lay out on the banks.

It is worth considering: jam should be infused for several days, so that the raisins are saturated with syrup and begin to burst on the tongue with sweet bombs.

Currant Banana Fantasy

The original combination of domestic berries with exotic fruits gives an unexpected and very pleasant result. Both products are very tender, boil instantly. Cooking goodies does not take much time. The recipe is simple. Both ingredients are crushed in a blender or knead with a nibble, fall asleep with sugar and boil for 20 minutes with continuous stirring.

For 1 kg of currant you will need 4 large bananas and 700 g of sugar.

Jam in the slow cooker

The use of modern technology eliminates many problems, such as hot sprays on the stove or a burnt pan bottom. Time is also being saved decently. The proportions are classic 1: 1, the composition is currants and sugar. In a bowl, the berries are layered with sugar in layers, stand for 1 hour until juice is formed.

The jam is cooked in a quenching mode for 35 minutes with periodic removal of foam. Spilled on the banks, they are insulated with a towel or an old blanket for a day.

Important: a hot treat thickens as it cools, which must be taken into account when choosing a boiling time.

Other recipes with red currants

In addition to jam, in the bins of folk wisdom there is still a mass of goodies based on red currant.

Jam

Products:

• berries, peeled from twigs - 1 kg;
• water - 500 ml;
• sugar - 1.5 kg.

Knead the berries, rub through a sieve, cook the mass immediately, with the addition of water and sugar. Time is clearly unlimited. The criterion is a 2-fold decrease in the initial volume.

Confiture

The start of cooking coincides with jam. Berries and sugar are taken in equal amounts.The difference is that 5 minutes before cooking, add the juice of 1 large orange. Cooking time is 30 minutes.

Marmalade

The berries are lightly steamed in a water bath under a lid, wiped through a sieve to remove skins and seeds. Then, 550 g of sugar is added per kg of currant. The mass is boiled until the volume is reduced twice. The mixture is gelled on its own, but if you want a denser consistency, you need to add 40-60 g of gelatin, previously soaked in water for 40 minutes.

Redcurrant in its own juice

A great option for cooking compotes and jelly in the cold winter. The advantage is that the product does not require sugar, it is concentrated. So, from a half-liter jar it’s quite possible to cook 3 liters of a full-fledged saturated compote.

The berries are picked, washed, tightly packed in sterilized jars and pasteurized under the covers. A half-liter is enough for 15 minutes, for a liter it will take about 20.

How to store the finished product

Redcurrant contains a large amount of acid, including ascorbic acid. The spin is very good even at room temperature. Freshly grated berries with sugar and five minutes are better to put in the refrigerator. Everything that cooked for more than 10 minutes can be safely left on the insulated loggia, in the pantry, in the kitchen cabinet.

Important: if the cans are rolled up under iron lids, they are stored in a dry room, otherwise corrosion will begin and the product will be spoiled.

Banks can also be cleaned in a cellar or put into a cold corridor in a private house, throwing on top an old blanket or coat. In this case, the cans will withstand even severe frost.

Interesting facts about red currant

1. At first, the plant was used only for medicinal purposes.
2. Close relatives are gooseberries, peonies, saxifrage, money tree.
3. Wild species grows on all continents, excluding Antarctica and Australia.
4. The plant was first cultivated in monasteries.
5. For the benefit, the berries and leaves of the shrub are almost equal.
6. Juice removes radioisotopes from the body.
7. The plant is an excellent honey plant.

A bush of red currant is able to provide vitamins and a good mood for the winter, if you harvest in time and prepare delicious goodies based on this fragrant berry.

Photo of red currant jam