Blackcurrants

[dave45]

Blackcurrants are easy to grow and propagate and I am pretty successful with them. But 9months on I still have freezer drawers full of the things. I tried blackcurrant wine and wasn't too impressed. Jam and blackcurrant and apple crumble are fine though.... but what else can I do with them?

PS are they full of vitamin C or is that just Ribena propaganda?... mmm I could make cordial !

[oldjerry]

Dave,steepe in neat vodka,leave for 6 months,then strain if you wish(keep the blackcurrants and make the best crumble of all time).Add sugar to taste if you wish.They'll break down even better for having been in the freezer.......Happy Days......

[dave45]

Oldjerry - I tried that the previous year (blackcurrants and vodka) - I think I made it a little too strong (I blitzed them in a blender to increase the surface area)- it stained the clear glass bottle it was in!

[Millymollymandy]

I eat them as is mixed with other fruit, make cordial, make a base for ice cream and freeze that and make jelly mixed with other fruit i.e. redcurrants or apple. I'm on my last tub from the freezer right now.

Still have several tubs of redcurrants left and they can't be eaten as they are so I'll have to make more cordial which I might make into ice lollies when summer arrives.

[boboff]

Make more Jam, love Blackcurrant Jam.

[Odsox]

Three quarters of my crop gets juiced and then bottled.
Then when (if) the weather turns warmer I drink it half and half with lemonade.
The other quarter gets made into jam.

[greenorelse]

PS are they full of vitamin C or is that just Ribena propaganda?

I've heard that the vit. C doesn't survive the industrial process, which is hardly surprising.

[godfreyrob]

We've 4 gallons of blackcurrent wine still bubbling away in our bathroom, we have a glass every now and then and it gets better each time. We did a blind tasting at our gardening group with our wine, some Shiraz and Merlot - everyone thought the blackcurrant wine was the best by far.

We made two batches of the wine - the 2nd (and much bigger) batch of wine is far better - the fruits were bigger too.

[okra]

Lovely added to muesli

[oldjerry]

..Even better without the Muesli !!!!

[dave45]

godfreyrob - would you mind sharing your recipe for the blackcurrant wine.... mine was "improvised" and wasn't too good

[JeremyinCzechRep]

No one has mentioned a blackcurrant milkshake. Delicious!

[Millymollymandy]

Ah that would be my chilled blackcurrant ice cream mix before I churn it. It does make fab ice cream - doesn't actually sound like it should but it does! This year I think I'll try ice lollies from cordial as I now have some lolly kits.

[dave45]

Update... Just made blackcurrant cordial - used the old aluminium steamer to extract a large saucepans- worth of juice and just added sugar... Not quit as strong as ribena, as it can be drunk neat... 50/50 dilution is good ...

Tons more to pick.... Still looking for a reliable wine recipe.

I am guessing that the steam juice extraction method is "gentler" than blitz-and-soak coz the cordial has a very rounded flavour.... Could be wrong.

[red]

I'm having a rubbish blackcurrant year so am
blackcurrant icecream is the DBs and cassis is good.. and blackcurrants are a must in summer pudding