Red Currant Jelly

Here's my backyard:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep...

... and chock full of red currants. I spent hours and hours and hours this summer pillaging red currants from those woods, packing the berries away in the freezer until a day rolled around when I'd be in the mood to make some jelly!

I've mentioned my freezer-full-o-berries multiple times before and you might think I'm kidding but you would be wrong. Behold:

Yeah. You're backing away from me, aren't you... Now true, it's not berries all the way down. There's other stuff in the bottom.

I guess.

Truthfully, I'm not really sure -- the thought of shifting all those ice-cold bags of berries in order to get to the bottom, or even the middle of the freezer, for that matter... well, just the thought of it tuckers me out. I'll dig out the tater tots and blackberry ice cream someday. At some point. In the distant future. Very, very distant.

Today, let's focus on my beeeyyyoooottteeeeful jelly-making:

Last weekend I made my first batch. I believe that red currant jelly is the Queen of Jellies. Tart, sweet, complex, and pretty as hell:

The color of it reminds me of rubies. Tasty, tasty rubies.

I am obsessed with the notion of finding more of these lids. They've been discontinued and I'm not sure why. One person I consulted said it might be because they leave a weird residue behind when you hot water bath them. I don't care. I just want more of them. My husband will tell you that I'm totally superficial in my way of thinking that things taste better when they look pretty, and these lids are pretty.

Tie a little raffia around them. Hang a little tag on the raffia telling people what kind of jelly it is. Who wouldn't want to get a jar of jelly like that?

Here's the recipe I used should you find yourself with a glut of red currants (you lucky dog, you). I think it makes twelve jars? Yeah, that didn't even put a dent in my stock of red currants. I need to make another batch pronto.

Red Currant Jelly

About 5 qt. or 7 lb. fully ripe red currants

1-1/2 cups water

1 box SURE.JELL Fruit Pectin

1/2 tsp. butter or margarine

7 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl

BRING boiling-water canner, half full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling. STEM and crush currants thoroughly, one layer at a time. Place currants in large saucepan; stir in water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 min., stirring occasionally. Place three layers of damp cheesecloth or a jelly bag in large bowl. Pour prepared fruit into cheesecloth. Tie cheesecloth closed; hang and let drip into bowl until dripping stops. Press gently. Measure exactly 6-1/2 cups prepared juice into 6- or 8-qt. saucepot. (If needed, add up to 1/2 cup water for exact measure.) STIR pectin into juice in saucepot. Add butter to reduce foaming. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon. LADLE immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 5 min. Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middles of lids with finger. (If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)

Comments

[Pille]

I agree - redcurrant jelly can be easily called the Queen of Jellies. I love it a lot, and made a batch recently, too. However, mine is easier - currants, sugar and a tiny dash of water (redcurrants are high in pectine, if picked before they're too ripe, so no need for added pectin - they jell beautifully on their own)..

[Paz]

This looks beautiful. And yummy. ;-)

I like your salad below.

Paz (who's getting hungry now)

[Lyra]

You are a woman after my own heart. I picked "wild" crab apples from a tree next to a cycling path where I go running next to the Watergate here in Washington DC and made some kick-ass apple butter last week.

Can't let all that good fruit just go to waste, even if everyone jogging and driving by was staring at me as if I was crazy.

[molly]

Oh Lyra, please tell me you climbed the tree to get the ones at the top?

[Mari]

I'm in total agreement on the lids, if I could find some of those, it'd definitely tempt me to make jam.

[lyra spang]

Unfortunately no, I always worry that if I climb a tree in the capital that a secret service officer or a policeman will come along and tell me to get down...but most of the apples were near the bottom of the tree anyways.