Currant jams are an exquisite and healthy treat that will appeal to the most discriminating gourmet. It’s easy to cook them, but this process will take some time. You can learn how to create a dessert quickly and efficiently from this article.
About the benefits of berries
Blackcurrant is a real storehouse of vitamins. It contains a unique combination of minerals and vitamins. The berry is especially useful for its high content of vitamin C. It is enough to eat only twenty currants a day, and you will satisfy your body's daily requirement for this vitamin. However, this is not the only advantage of the berry. Blackcurrant is rich in vitamins P, E, group B, A, pectins, tannins, phosphoric acid, essential oils, potassium, phosphorus, iron, etc.
In culinary, the berry we describe is appreciated and created from it many dishes: confiture, compotes, fruit drinks, preserves, marmalade, jams. Particular preference is usually given to dishes prepared without heat treatment or with minimal use of heat. Cooking currant jam in order to cook the berry as possible is a special art with which we will introduce you.
Currant jam with a thickener. Ingredients
Puzzled by the preparation of this dish, each culinary confronts the dilemma: cook dessert quickly and make it liquid or evaporate moisture from the berry slowly and get an almost useless product at the exit. We will tell you the secret of experienced housewives - many of them prepare currant jams with the addition of natural thickeners created on the basis of pectin.
So, to prepare the dish we describe, you need to stock up on the following ingredients:
- sugar - 1 kilogram;
- black currant - 1 kilogram;
- thickener for jam "Confiture" (or any other) - 1 package.
Currant jam with a thickener. Cooking method
So we came close to the question of how to cook currant jam. A step-by-step guide to action will allow you to master the recipe for preparing this dish without much hassle.
- First of all, it is necessary to sort out and rinse the berry several times.
- Then it needs to be poured with sugar in a ratio of 1: 1.
- Next, carefully grind the currants with a blender and put it on fire.
- Then it is necessary to mix the “Konfyururka” thickener into the resulting mass.
- Now you need to quickly bring the jam to a boil and simmer for eight to ten minutes. Those who want to speed up the process as much as possible can add in the future dessert not one, but two packages of thickener.
- After that, hot jam should be poured into sterilized jars and rolled up with boiled lids in advance.
So our currant jam is ready. The recipe for this dish can be a good help for any housewife.
Classic currant jam. Ingredients
For those who like to follow the old and proven ways of creating dishes, we publish this recipe. It is quite laborious and will require certain skills. Want to learn how to cook currant jam according to the recipe of our grandmothers? Then cook the following foods:
- currants (black or red) - 2.2 kilograms;
- raspberries (for taste) - 350 grams;
- sugar - 1.3 kilograms;
- water - 1 cup.
Classic currant jam. Cooking method
- First you need to pour the berry into a deep container and add water to it. After that, the dishes with raspberries and currants must be put on fire for 5 minutes, so that the fruits soften a little. The berries will begin to produce juice, so the output will be quite liquid.
- Next, it must be separated from the bones and skin. An ordinary sieve with large holes can be useful here (otherwise the process will take too much time). Put our berry mass in it and start wiping it.
- Now we have to get a very sour and liquid juice. It must be poured into a saucepan (not enameled!), Put on a slow fire and heated. After this, sugar (600 grams per liter) should be added to the juice and completely dissolved.
- Then the resulting sweet mass must be boiled until completely thickened. To do this, maintain a low boil of the product over low heat. It is impossible to determine the consistency of dessert in hot form, so you can use the tested technique of our grandmothers - drop a few drops of jam on the surface of the saucer. If they do not spread, the dish is ready.
As soon as the juice in the pan turns into a dense jelly-like mass, it can be poured into sterilized jars. So you can prepare raspberry-currant jam for the winter. Finally, the dessert will thicken over time. This can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to two months.
Currant jam in a slow cooker. Ingredients
There is nothing easier than cooking currant jams in a slow cooker! Experts say that this berry contains a lot of pectin, so even adding a thickener to it is optional. Whether it is this or not is up to you. Let's try to believe the creators of this recipe and make jam from the following products:
- currants (white, red, black) - 800 grams;
- sugar - 2.5 cups;
- water - 150 milliliters.
Currant jam in a slow cooker. Cooking method
Just note that this recipe is designed to make jam in the multicooker "Polaris" 0517AD. If you are using a different model, then find out its characteristics in the instructions. Perhaps with its help it will take more or less time to prepare the dish. Currant jam in a slow cooker is prepared as follows:
- First of all, you should prepare the berry. It needs to be separated from twigs and leaves, sorted out, rinsed thoroughly and put into the bowl of the device.
- Next, you need to add cold water to the currant - it will not let the berry burn.
- After that, the multicooker should be closed and set to "multi-cook" mode. The mass must be languished in the device for 20 minutes at a temperature of 100 degrees.
- Then the softened berry must be poured into a sieve and grated thoroughly with a spatula or spoon from a tree.
- Now you should decide on the amount of sugar in the dessert. To do this, measure the amount of the resulting mashed potatoes. Typically, 2.5 cups of juice comes out of 800 grams of currant. So, we must take the same amount of sugar.
- After that, it remains only to mix the juice with sugar and pour the resulting mixture into a slow cooker, close the lid of the device and put it on the "jam" mode. In order for the dessert to cook, just boil it for 20 minutes.
- Next, liquid jam should be poured into sterilized jars. Over time, it will thicken and acquire the desired consistency.
The output should be up to 700 milliliters of dessert. Therefore, for its conservation, you may need only two jars: one - 250 milliliters, and the other - 200 milliliters. After filling, they must be rolled up with boiled lids, turned upside down, cool and put stored in a secluded dark and cool place.
Useful Tips
Now you know how to make currant jam. The recipe for this dish is very simple, the main thing is not to be too lazy and rub the berry thoroughly through a sieve. But what do we do with the ready-made dessert? How to present it in the most favorable light to friends and family? Currant jam goes well with pancakes, fragrant pastries, toasts with butter. In the end, they can be enjoyed as ordinary jam, washed down with milk or warm tea. The dessert is perfectly stored throughout the winter and is perfect for baby food, which young mothers cannot but like. However, a large amount of sugar in this product can cause diathesis, so you should not get very involved in it. For those who carefully control their own weight, currant jams may also be banned. Then choose frozen or fresh berries - they certainly will not hurt your figure. But to enjoy delicious jam with pastries and a mug of hot tea on a cold winter evening is a special pleasure that everyone can afford from time to time.