Redcurrant jelly: crystal clear, and it sets without added pectin
Redcurrants are among the richest sources of pectin of any fruit in a northern garden, which is why their jelly sets on its own — no sachets, no agar, no powdered pectin. There is only one condition, and it takes patience: the juice must not be squeezed. A pressed bag lets through fine particles of pulp that turn a perfectly clear jelly cloudy. Four hours of patient dripping are what make it.
Your own work in that: 1 h.
- Cooking the fruit 25 min
- Straining 240 min
- Boiling with sugar 35 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneCook the fruit with a little water
Rinse the currants; you needn't strip the stalks, they stay behind in the sieve anyway. Put them in a wide pot, add the water, bring to the boil and cook 15 minutes over medium heat, crushing the fruit with a masher until it collapses and releases its juice.
Ingredients: 2000 g redcurrants · 200 ml water
TipUnderripe fruit holds more pectin than ripe. If you have a few still-pink currants, throw them in — the jelly will set more reliably.
Fifteen minutes, until the fruit collapsesStrain for four hours
Line a sieve with muslin or a cloth and set it over a bowl. Pour the pulp in and leave 4 hours or overnight. Do not press or squeeze — 2 kg of currants gives about a litre of completely clear juice.
TipThis is the only moment where the result can be ruined beyond repair. Squeezed juice gives a cloudy, greyish jelly that tastes the same — the whole difference is in the look.
Four hours of dripping, no squeezingMeasure the juice and sugar
Measure how much juice you have and weigh out 800 g of sugar per litre. The ratio is not arbitrary: with much less sugar the jelly sets poorly even after long boiling, and keeps less well. Put a saucer in the freezer for the test.
Ingredients: 800 g sugar · ½ pcs lemon, juice
Boil hard, not gently
Bring the juice with the sugar and lemon juice to the boil in a wide, shallow pan and boil hard for 8–12 minutes, skimming the foam. High heat and a wide surface are the condition: the water evaporates fast, while long, slow simmering breaks the pectin down and the jelly sets less well.
TipSkim the foam conscientiously. Left in, it clouds the jar and forms a whitish layer on the surface of the finished jelly.
Hard boil, wide pan, foam skimmed offDo the cold saucer test
Take the pan off the heat while you test. Drop a teaspoon onto a cold saucer from the freezer and wait a minute. Push it with a finger: if the surface wrinkles and the trail does not flood back, it is done. If not, boil another 3 minutes and test again.
Pour into scalded jars
Pour it boiling through a funnel into scalded jars, leaving 1 cm of headspace. Seal and invert for 10 minutes. The jelly only sets as it cools — it stays liquid in the jar for several hours, which is normal.
Ingredients: 1000 ml water for scalding
Boiling into hot jars, then upside down
Before you start
What to serve it with
Classically with game, roast duck and lamb — the sweet-sharp flavour balances the fat of the meat. Also with cheese, on toast, and warmed as a glaze for cheesecake.
What to do with the pulp
Don't discard what stays in the muslin: push it through a sieve, boil with half its weight in sugar and you have a thick currant purée. Cloudy, but excellent with pancakes.
If it won't set
Return it to the pan, add the juice of a whole lemon and boil another 5 minutes. Pectin only sets in acid conditions, and very ripe currants can be short of acid.
From blackcurrants
It works the same way, but blackcurrants have denser flesh and give less juice: cook them with more water, about 600 ml per 2 kg. The jelly comes out very dark, purple-black, with an intense, tart flavour.