Homemade Redcurrant Jam (aka Redcurrant Jelly)

This homemade redcurrant jelly is deliciously sweet with just a hint of tart and bitter. Perfect eaten as a sweet or savoury condiment.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Redcurrant Jam Recipe

Redcurrant jam is very easy to make at home. It’s just a simple matter of adding the fruit, sugar and a little lemon juice to a pan and cooking it. That’s all there is to it.

As redcurrants are high in pectin, you don’t need to add any extra, unless you are looking for a thick jelly-like consistency. A little lemon juice is all that’s needed for a tiny boost in this department, as well as giving a vibrant red colour.

Let’s take a look at the ingredients needed.

Redcurrant Jam Ingredients

Redcurrants

That’s rather obvious, isn’t it? If you’re reading this in the summer, and there are lots of fresh redcurrants to be picked (or bought), then that’s the way to go. That’s probably why you’re reading this article in the first place, maybe!

However, if you’re reading this out of season, you’ll be pleased to know that you can also use frozen redcurrants to make redcurrant jelly. The work perfectly fine and make no difference in flavour and result.

You could, if you wanted, change it up slightly by adding other fruit, like strawberries, blackberries, or raspberries, à la Mrs Beeton.

White Sugar

You definitely want white sugar in this jam, as brown sugar will just muddy up the flavour, and the colour, literally, in the latter.

It doesn’t matter if it’s caster or granulated, it’s all going to dissolve.

Water

We add just a little water to our fruit , which makes up the liquid content of our jam, along with the lemon juice, below. We use just enough, to allow it to bond with the sugar and make way for the naturally occurring pectin in the redcurrants to do its thing.

Lemon Juice

I always add some sort of fresh acid to my jams and chutneys to ensure there is a good amount of acidity. This aids the preservation and also adds a little more pectin to our redcurrant jam.

As I don’t use commercially produced pectin when making jams, I tend to rely on a combination of what’s in the fruit itself and whatever acid I’m using, in this instance, lemon juice.

I always start out with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice for roughly every 500g (1.1 lb) of high acid fruit, like today’s redcurrant jam. A lot of jam making is about tasting it as you go along. So if you want more sugar, more lemon juice, adjust accordingly, at the start of your cooking time. This is so, as mentioned above, the liquid and sugar can go off and do their thing, leaving the pectin to work its magic.

What about Pectin?

All my homemade jams tend to have a soft set. Mainly because I prefer them like that, and because I don’t use added pectin when making jams, as mentioned above.

How to use Redcurrant Jam or Jelly?

As mentioned right at the start, redcurrant jam can be used for sweet and savoury purposes. I use it:

• as a spread with bread, scones, croissants, etc.
• for flavouring porridge (not Asian style) whether that’s oats or chia
• with ice cream
• to fill cookies
• in making Cumberland Sauce, a must-have table sauce during the holiday period (see below)

And on that note, shall we get our aprons on?

If you like the recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! Thank you!

And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood

Lin xx