Topic: White currants

[valmarg]

Anybody got any recipes for these.  Have got a good crop this year, and can't find a recipe in the 'library'. ;D

valmarg

[calendula]

I always use them as a 'mixer' fruit, i.e. add them into any other fruit dish, including jams, pies, summer puddings, can be added to pickles and chutneys as well and I also add them when making home made juices as well as they add that little extra something  :)

[jennym]

Mix them with gooseberries to make gooseberry & whitecurrant jam, it looks a bit like a potfull of frogspawn  ;D but tastes really nice, I call it the "champagne" of jams but then I do like a nice tart jam.

[valmarg]

Thank you both for your replies.  I shall give them a go.

Jennym, I don't have any gooseberries,  Would it be OK to make the jam without?

valmarg

[jeanaustin]

You can use white currants to make 'white currant jelly' - follow a recipe for red currant jelly, using white currants instead.  You can use this in the same way as red currant jelly, such as with lamb.   Advantage of 'jelly' over jam is that you don't get all the pips!

[asbean]

I found they set much more readily than red currants

[jordsbabe]

Summer Pudding  ;D


Ingredients
1 slightly stale, good quality sliced white loaf (thick sliced is better)
225g8/oz redcurrants with stalks picked off
225g8/oz blackcurrants with stalks picked off
225g8/oz whitecurrants with stalks picked off (these may be difficult to find, substitute red and black if so)
225g/8oz raspberries
225g/8oz blackberries
225g/8oz caster sugar



Method
1. Remove the crusts from the bread and leave to stale a little further whilst the fruit is being prepared.
2. Put the red, black and white currants in a pan with the sugar and bring to a bare simmer over a low heat, stirring occasionally. Simmer for 10 minutes, then remove from the heat and stir in the raspberries and blackberries. Allow to cool completely.
3. Line a pudding bowl with the slices of bread, trimming them to fit and reserving some for the lid.
4. Stand this bowl in a tray with a rim and fill the well between the bread slices with the liquid-soaked fruit.
5. Cut the reserved slices of bread into triangles and use to form a lid to cover the pudding. Trim any protruding bread from the sides, cover with a circle of greaseproof paper and put a plate on the top which should just fit inside the rim of the pudding bowl.
6. Place tins to the total weight of 1.5kg/3lb on the plate and transfer the whole assemblage to the refrigerator. Keep for up to three days, occasionally spooning back any juices that have overflowed into the tray (there may be quite a lot, this is why you need a tray with a rim).
7. To serve, remove the weights, greaseproof paper and plate, then carefully run a flexible palate knife down the sides and under the pudding to loosen it from the bowl.
8. Put your serving plate on top of the bowl and gripping firmly, invert. Tap the base of the bowl with a wooden spoon for luck and remove the bowl. Spoon any accumulated juices from the tray over the top and serve with crème fraîche.

[jennym]

...Jennym, I don't have any gooseberries,  Would it be OK to make the jam without?
valmarg

Sure, but it'd look even more like frogspawn  ;D and I expect (because I've never made it with just whitecurrant) that it'd be very sharp!

You say you got a good crop, out of interest, do you know the variety?

[valmarg]

Sorry jennym, I don't.

I bought the bush a few years ago from either Woolworths or Wilkos, so it's not going to be a brand new cultivar.

A PS to making the jam without gooseberries.  Are they there for/in place of pectin?

valmarg

[jennym]

Both fruits have plenty of pectin, the combination was just a chance one that tasted good.

[valmarg]

Well,  jennym, 'bin jammin' today.

The result is a lovely, delicate shade of pink jam, with definite frogspawn overtones. ;D

Really looking forward to it.

You don't see many jars of 'white currant jam' on the shelves is shops.

valmarg