How to make blackcurrant jam

The tough skin problem

Blackcurrant skins are thick and papery. They soften in water with heat, and they stop softening the moment the sugar concentration rises, because sugar draws water out of the skin and firms it.

This is why almost every blackcurrant jam recipe simmers the fruit in water first, for considerably longer than seems necessary, before any sugar goes near it. Skip that stage and the finished jam is full of small chewy pellets.

The other consequence is that blackcurrant jam needs more water than most, both to soften the skins and because the fruit is comparatively dry.

The method

Proportions here are for texture and set. FoodHQ does not publish keeping times, jar-processing schedules or the acidity figures that decide whether a sealed preserve is safe on a shelf. Those are safety numbers set by a food safety authority rather than by a cookery writer. In the UK the Food Standards Agency is the authority — follow its guidance on sterilising, sealing and storing, and treat this page as the explanation of what is happening in the pan.

1. Strip the currants from their strings — hold a sprig by the stem and run a fork down it. A few stalks left in do no harm.
2. Put the fruit in a preserving pan with water, roughly half the weight of the fruit. This looks like a great deal and it is correct.
3. Simmer gently for twenty minutes or more, until the skins are genuinely soft when squashed against the side of the pan. Test one. Do not rush this.
4. Put two plates in the freezer.
5. Add sugar — an equal weight to the original fruit, or a little more since blackcurrants are very sharp — and stir over a low heat until dissolved.
6. Bring to a rolling boil. Blackcurrant reaches setting point quickly, often within five to eight minutes.
7. Test on a cold plate, skim, and pot.

What to expect

No pectin needed

Blackcurrants are among the highest-pectin fruits there are. Adding more gives a rubbery jam.

No lemon needed

The acidity is more than sufficient.

A firm set

Often firmer than intended. If you prefer a softer preserve, boil for less time and test earlier.

Colour

Very dark, almost black. This is correct and not a sign of over-boiling.

Yield

High, because of the added water and sugar. A kilo of fruit makes a lot of jam.

Variations and uses

• Blackcurrant and mint, with a handful of leaves steeped in the hot jam and removed.
• Blackcurrant jelly — sieve after simmering, before the sugar. No skins at all, and it sets just as well.
• With a splash of cassis stirred in off the heat.
• As a partner for a difficult jam. A quarter blackcurrant by weight will set almost any low-pectin fruit.
• With lamb or venison, in place of redcurrant jelly, where it is sharper and better.
• In a bakewell tart or a jam roly-poly, where the sharpness cuts the sweetness of the pastry.
• Warmed and sieved as a glaze for a chocolate cake or a fruit tart.

Common questions