Golden Current Recipes
Blossoms: late April to mid May
Ripens: late July to August
This fruit is globe-shaped and about 1/4 inch in diameter, growing single along the stem. When ripe, currants vary in color from red to black. Currants are high in natural pectin.
Currant Jelly and Jam
3 quarts fresh currants
2 cups water
3 cups sugar
Jelly
Wash the currants and place in a saucepan. Add the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Use a jelly bag to extract the juice. Allow juice to drip overnight.
Measure 4 cups of juice and stir in the sugar. Heat to boiling and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently until the mixtures meets the jelly test. Skim off surface and pour into hot, sterile jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Seal and process in a boiling water for 10 minutes at 5,000 feet, or freeze.
Jam
3/4 cup additional sugar
Save the pulp after the juice has been extracted, adding 3/4 cup sugar and cooking until thick. Pour into hot, sterile jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Seal. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes, or freeze.
Blueberry-Currant Jam
1 quart stemmed blueberries
1 cup water
2 cups stemmed currants
1 cup water
3 cups sugar
Add blueberries and 1 cup water; cook slowly 5 minutes. In another pan, add currants and 1 cup water; cook slowly 10 minutes; press through a sieve or food mill.
Add currant pulp to blueberry mixture; cook rapidly 5 minutes. Add sugar. Cook rapidly until thick, about 20 minutes stirring frequently. Pour hot mixture into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Adjust lids. Process 15 minutes in boiling water bath at 5,000 feet. Makes 2 pints.
Currant-Rhubarb Jam
1 1/2 pounds frozen rhubarb (1 quart)1 pound currants (1 quart)
1 package pectin
8 1/2 cups sugar
Remove stems and tails from currants; combine with thawed, chopped rhubarb. Mash thoroughly in a kettle, add pectin, and stir until dissolved. Heat to boiling. Add sugar, stirring constantly. Bring to a full, rolling boil, and continue stirring. Boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat, skim off foam, pour into sterilized jars, seal and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Yields six 8-ounce jars.
Spiced Currant Jelly
2 1/2 pounds currants (mashed and cooked till soft, strain out juice)
2 tablespoons stick cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
Place in a small cheesecloth bag. Boil spices in juice for 10 minutes, then remove the spice bag. For each cup of juice, add 3/4 cup sugar. Boil to jelly stage. Pour into hot, sterilized jars. Process in hot water bath for 10 minutes. Yields six 8-ounce jars.
Currant Pie
(this can be used with gooseberries too)
Pastry for a 2 crust pie
4 cups black currants
Cut off stems and blossom ends of the currants. Roll out a pie crust and arrange it in a pie pan. Place berries in pie pan on top of crust. Mix 2 cups sugar, 2 tablespoons flour or cornstarch, and 1 teaspoon nutmeg. Sprinkle over currants. Put on top crust or lattice crust.
Bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Put a cookie sheet under the pie pan, since the juices usually run over if a top crust is used.
For less intense flavor, or if you only have 2 cups of currants, fill out with 2 cups sliced apples. Apples extend gooseberries and currants very well.
Currant Jelly
(this is one of the ingredients in the Currant Sauce recipe also)
Wash currants. Don't bother to remove the stems. Cook enough of them to make about 4 cups of juice. Use only enough water to get the juice flowing and simmer slowly until the fruit is soft, stirring occasionally.
Crush the currants and strain them through a damp jelly bag. Don't squeeze the bag, or the jelly will be cloudy instead of clear. Return the juice to the pan after the fruit has strained for several hours or overnight.
Bring quickly to a boil and boil for 3 minutes or so. Add 3 cups sugar for 4 cups of juice and stir until all the sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil again. After 3 minutes, test the mixture to see if it has reached the jelly stage; repeat every 3 minutes until the jelly stage has been reached.
When cooked enough, remove the jelly from the heat and skim off the foam. Pour the jelly into hot, sterilized jelly glasses and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes at 5,000 feet.
Currant Sauce
Cut the rind of an orange into tiny slivers abut the size of spruce needles - a tedious job, but worth it for the result. Cook these slivers with 1 cup of Madeira or Port wine, simmering gently until the volume is reduced by two-thirds. Now add the juice of the orange, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, a dash of ground ginger, and 1/2 to 3/4 cup wild currant jelly (recipe included on this web page). Continue to simmer until jelly is melted. Refrigerate.
Currant Ice Cream Sauce
1 cup washed and stemmed currants
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup sugar or honey
Cook currants in water for 10 minutes. Add sugar (1/2 cup) and sugar or honey (1/3 cup) and boil gently for 6 more minutes. Serve hot or chilled over vanilla ice cream.
Currant Punch
Sweeten hot currant juice to taste, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cool. Add club soda or ginger ale at serving time. Other fruit juices may be combined with the currant for a flavorful punch. For a special touch, add a scoop of ice cream at serving time.