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Red Currant Jam

You can adapt this recipe to any quantities of red currants that you have on hand. For 11 pounds (5 kilos) of red currants, we used 11 pounds (5 kilos) of sugar, and got twenty-two (12 ounce, 370g) jars of jam. Because black currants are much stronger, if you have those, I suggest finding a recipe specifically written for black currants. When I make jam, I use slightly less sugar and often reduce the amount by 10 to 20%, and add a small shot of kirsch at the end of cooking, not enough to taste it, but to augment the berry flavor.
Course Breakfast
Cuisine French
  • Red currants
  • Sugar
  • Optional: a shot of kirsch
  • Rinse the red currants and put them in a large pot. Add enough water just so that it covers the bottom of the pot.
  • Cook the red currants, stirring frequently, until they’re soft and wilted. Once cooked, pass them through a food mill, discarding the stems and seeds left behind.
  • Weight the puree. For each pound (kilo), add the equivalent amount of sugar to the pot.
  • Mix the puree and the sugar in the pot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved.
  • Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, let it boil for five minutes undisturbed.
  • After five minutes, turn off the heat and skim off any scum. (My frugal co-workers in the kitchen save it and insist it’s delicious on plain yogurt.) If desired, stir in a few drops of kirsch.
  • Ladle the jam into clean jars up to the top and screw on the lids firmly. Turn the jars upside down and let cool completely.

Notes

For testing if the finished jam is jelled, you could use the nudge test: putting a small amount on a chilled plate, and rechilling it for a few minutes; if it wrinkles when nudged, it’s ready. However following the cook who made this jam, she let it boil for five minutes and it indeed set nicely after cooling in the jars.
I store jam in the refrigerator, where it will keep for up to one year. This method of overturning the jars (call the "inversion method") forms a seal but if you wish to can them using a boiling water method and I’ve listed some links below.