Our dear friends Rae and Monica dropped in the day before my birthday party to share a little bubbly with us to celebrate! It was such a lovely gesture since they live about 50 minutes away. They dropped their three girls and some friends off on Bloor Street in our hood because we have such lovely shops to browse through; our local Chapters is a great visit because its a converted theatre with beautiful architectural features not to mention the cool stuff to buy! And then there is Sweet Flour where you can get a custom-baked fresh cookie in about a minute (they have a variety of raw doughs and a whole mess of inclusions, you pick the dough and inclusions and presto, a freshly baked cookie!). Definitely worth visiting. They also shopped the trendy clothing stores while we visited with Rae and Mon and a couple of hours and bottles later their girls dropped in! It was such a lovely visit; we’ve known the girls since they were born, so it was nice to have adult conversations. The girls very kindly and generously bought us a box of red currants! How nice is that? With everything going on, my big bash the next day and leaving in a couple of days for a short vaycay, I knew I had to do something very special with these delicate berries, but what? Then I remembered my dear friend Sissi makes the most incredible hot and sweet jellies so I took a little trip to her beautiful blog With a Glass to see what kinds of jellies she has made and boy, what a selection. Sadly their were no jellies for red currants, so I expanded my search on the web and found this lovely jelly recipe by David Lebovitz’s Red Currant Jam recipe, with some artistic license! Thank you Sissi for the inspiration.
The jelly is slightly sweet with some smokey heat right at the very end, nothing unpleasant, and if I were to make it again, I would likely add a bit more heat to it.
Red Current Jelly
based on David Lebovitz’s Red Current Jam
Ingredients:
- 1 part currents (150g)
- 1/2 part sugar
- 1/2 guajillo pepper
- 1/4 ancho pepper
- 1/8 haberno pepper
Directions:
- Finely chop the three varieties of peppers, including the seed if you prefer a more robust heat.
- Remove the large stems from the currants, rinse. Add the currents and the chopped peppers to a pot large enough to be able to add enough water just so that it covers the currents and the peppers.
- Cook the currants and the peppers stirring frequently until they’re soft and wilted (like you would in making cranberry sauce).
- Weigh the glass container you will transfer the purée into. Press the purée through a fine sieve to remove the seeds, stems and pepper bits into the weighed glass container. (or if you have a scales which tares, simply put the glass container on top, tare it and press the currant pepper mix into it.
- Now weigh the purée in the glass container, subtract the first weight from the second weight and divide it by four (if you have a scale that tares, this is much easier).
- For each pound (kilo), add the 1/4 of the amount of sugar to the pot.
- Mix the purée and the sugar and cook over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, let it boil for five minutes undisturbed.
- After five minutes, turn off the heat and skim off any scum.
- Pour into sterilized jars up to the top and screw on the lids firmly. Turn the jars upside down and let cool completely (this is Lebovitz method to can, it worked for me!).
Speaking of the big bash, here is the photo book I created so I can remember the wonderful day everyone made for me (any references to age were intentionally left out, so don’t be rude and ask me how old I am ;-)!):
Click here to view this photo book larger
A cookie which bakes in a minute? Damn – what’s their secret… I wish mine baked that fast!
I really like red currants – they’re… “special” to eat raw because they’re just so darn sour, but they do make a lovely jelly. My father likes to eat it with roasted pigeon or other game, so I can definite;y recommend that usage for it too! Never tried it with cheese… bet it makes a lovely contrast in flavours!
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Hi Charles, their ovens are really super hot, rather surprised that the bottoms don’t burn.
I’ve been reading that the currants have a lot of natural gelatine in them and therefore you don’t need anything to set it, it sets itself. I can imagine how tasty it would be with game.
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Ack, re-reading this comment I just realised I made the fatal mistake of writing “their” as “they’re”… my pet peeve… Oh well, such is life :D.
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I figured it was the auto correct!
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Probably not – I tend not to leave comments on blogs on my phone because I find writing anything of great depth or length on my phone exceptionally infuriating! 😀
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Ah yes, I see what you mean.
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What a great idea. I wouldn’t have thought of jelly. So clever, as always. I like the idea of a spicy jelly too. I bet that is fantastic with some fruit and cheese. And I have to say that cookie store sounds like another great reason to come back to Toronto ASAP! I’m a cookie junkie. I would be in heaven in there for sure! 🙂
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HI Kristy, yes indeed that cookie store is amazing and they were pretty clever to figure out a way to super-bake the cookies at such a high temperature without having them burn.
The jelly is really quite lovely particularly with a sharp cheese such as cheddar or even blue.
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Happy belated birthday. I love the jelly, sounds like it would be great on well, everything.
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Hey Ilan, thank you for your kind wishes and lovely words, it was a very nice birthday indeed.
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[…] If you find only red currants, check the fabulous hot and sweet jelly at Eva’s Kitchen Inspirations. […]
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I would have eaten this gift, fresh on the spot… sprinkled with sugar crystals… I used to make red current jelly; at one time we had 3 bushes in the backyard. But they were “on the way” and were taken out. But that was many years ago. I still miss those bushes. I almost never see red currents in the store.
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Hi Zsu Zsa, we did have a few of the little currants and their sweet tangy flavours were wonderful. How lucky for you to have had currants growing in your garden.
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I love spicy jellies and yours looks delicious…especially in your pretty jelly bowl.
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Thank you kindly Karen, that little crystal bowl came from my grandmother, she used to keep her saccharin tablets in it!
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What a wonderful birthday bash and that jam, well, I’ll bring the cheese!
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Hi Maureen, it was a lovely party that’s for sure! I’d love to share this jam with you, bring it on!
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We rarely see red currants here in Australia… sometimes around December, but they are so expensive! My MIL used to grow them successfully. Lovely recipe, Eva, thanks for sharing.
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Thank you kindly Lizzy. I don’t know how expensive they are in Canada, I’ll keep an eye out next time.
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What a great way to celebration for your birthday, Eva. Congratulations and a belated happy birthday! I’ve seen red currants for the last 2 weeks at the farmers market but wasn’t sure about making a jelly with them. Your recipe here, with its bit of heat, sounds fantastic, especially seeing how you served it and reading the commenters’ suggestions. I may need to buy some jars. 🙂
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Hi John, I was rather surprised that you needn’t any gelatine, but it does coagulate and jellify (is that a word?) very well. And pairing with the strong cheese is wonderful indeed.
Thank you for your kind words, it was a wonderful birthday, with the exception of the actual number, of course!
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How lovely to have special friends drop around for your birthday. And fresh red currants! That’s something we don’t see to often around here – too hot to grow them. I have never made a red currant jelly before (shortage of currants being a good reason) but often buy red currant jelly because it’s so wonderful with a lamb roast. I love the look of your jelly and I’m glad you had a lovely birthday xx
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Thank you so much Charlie, it’s been such fun, it’s only the number that frightens me!!! This is one of the beauties of blogging, I would have never known that red currants aren’t grown in Australia! And thank you, I did have a wonderful birthday.
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I haven’t seen fresh currants in the market/grocery store so having a jelly made with them isn’t the first thing that would spring into my mind. Especially as I’m not very likely to make a sweet jam. But something spicy like this jelly especially to serve with baked brie or camembert as a spread is very tempting. And the jars are so lovely on the shelf, aren’t they? 🙂
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Hi Maria, it really was a lovely gift since they are not something I would necessarily buy on my own. The jelly served with Brie or Camembert is really wonderful. Yes, the jars of them on the pantry shelf are magical.
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Oh my I want that taster plate now
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Thank you kindly cquek and welcome to my blog. I dropped by your blog and wanted to mention that it is not smart phone adapted — usually just a button to tick on the admin page.
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What a great idea for using the redcurrants Eva! They’re such a delicate little treat 🙂
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Thanks Lorraine, this one turned out particularly well.
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Eva, I forgot to mention, I’m still waiting for my schedule in Canada but as soon as I get it, I’ll email it to you! Hopefully we can meet! 😀
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This does sound like it would be delicious with cheese as well as savory scones. It is good to celebrate birthdays, each one is a gift. 🙂
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You looked radiant, what a lovely birthday bash and the photo album is a treasure.
The currant jelly has such a beautiful color, makes me wish I did not get rid of my currant bush.
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Hi Norma, thank you for your lovely words. The bash was such a beautiful gift I just loved seeing all my wonderful friends. Those Shutterfly albums are fantastic; to think of how much unused to spend on photo albums, they are quite the steal!
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Love currants! Just bought some black and white currants…they are just so adorable..
I have to try your currant jelly too…so good paired with blue cheese and fruits.
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Hi Angie, there are such a variety of currents, I wonder if they all have similar properties. The jelly is rather tasty with cheese.
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Eva, first of all thank you for all the kind words…. I’m really flattered. Now you have inspired me with this jelly! I have experimented with many fruits in sweet and hot versions (I’m not a big fan of jams, so apart from my two or three favourites, like sugarless plum “butter”, most of my preserves are savoury or hot or both), but I have never ever thought about making a hot red currant jelly! My grandmother used to prepare red currant jelly in bulk amounts every year and I remember her saying that red currants were the most jelling fruit ever (I once made a cocktail with squeezed red currants: it has become a jelly in the fridge!). Your jelly sounds fabulous and I will certainly experiment with red currants soon! (In the meantime I have made some photos yesterday for a black currant post, isn’t it a funny coincidence??? Not a jelly though!).
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Great minds, Sissy! I am looking forward to your currant post! These jellies are so delightful with cheese. And yes indeed the currant does jelly very easily, no need for gelatine at all which surprised me.
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