How to make redcurrant jelly

Why it is the easiest preserve

Redcurrants are among the highest-pectin fruits grown in Britain and are markedly acidic, which is exactly the combination a set requires. No lemon, no added pectin, no jam sugar.

They also need no preparation. Stems, stalks and all go into the pan, because everything solid is strained out afterwards and the stalks carry pectin of their own. Stripping redcurrants for jelly is wasted labour.

The one thing that can go wrong is clarity, and it is entirely within the cook's control.

The method

Two sessions, mostly unattended. 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. Put the currants in a pan, stems and all, with just enough water to stop them catching — a splash rather than a cupful.
2. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until the fruit has burst and gone pale, around ten minutes. Crush it against the side of the pan.
3. Scald a jelly bag or a double layer of muslin with boiling water, and set it over a bowl.
4. Tip in the pulp and leave it to drip overnight. Do not squeeze, press or stir it. Squeezing forces fine solids through and clouds the jelly, and it cannot be undone.
5. Measure the juice next day. Add sugar in proportion — commonly an equal weight — and warm gently until every grain has dissolved.
6. Put two plates in the freezer, then boil the juice hard. Redcurrant reaches setting point quickly, often within eight to ten minutes.
7. Skim thoroughly — jelly shows every speck — and pot while still hot enough to pour freely.

What decides the outcome

Clarity

Comes entirely from not squeezing the bag and from simmering rather than boiling the fruit.

Yield

Lower than a jam, since only the juice is used. A kilo of currants gives roughly two or three small jars.

The pulp left behind

Still has flavour. Cook it with a little water and sugar into a rough sauce, or add it to a crumble.

A second extraction

Some cooks return the pulp to the pan with more water for a weaker second juice. It gives a paler jelly and more of it.

White currants

Make a pale golden jelly by exactly the same method, and look striking.

What to do with it

• With lamb, which is its traditional British role and works because the acidity cuts the fat.
• Cumberland sauce — jelly melted with port, orange and lemon zest and juice, mustard and ginger, served cold with ham, game or terrines.
• Glazing a fruit tart, warmed and brushed, which gives shine without an apricot flavour.
• In a pan sauce for duck, venison or game birds, a spoonful with a splash of vinegar.
• Stirred into gravy to round out a roast.
• With a hard cheese, in place of a chutney.
• Added to a jam that will not set, which is its most useful and least glamorous job.

Common questions