Red currant jelly for winter

In the middle of summer, when the hottest days are upon us, these little red berries ripen, gathered in order on a thin branch. That’s when it’s time to prepare red currant jelly for the winter.

In the sweet and sour, with a recognizable original taste, only sugar is added to the jelly. Despite the lack of special thickeners and minimal thermal processing time, the consistency of the preparation turns out to be dense and thick due to the high pectin content in ripe berries.

Yield: 2 jars (1 jar - 250 g + 1 jar - 200 g).

Preparation time: 20 minutes + 6 hours to cool.

Calories: 191 kcal per 100 grams of the dish.

Ingredients

• red currants with stems - 550 g;
• white sugar - 500 g.

Preparation

1. Prepare the ingredients.

2. Sort the currants, removing rotten and dried berries, and break off the stems. If a few green tails remain, it’s not a problem - they won’t pass through the sieve, but will increase the pectin content.

3. Transfer the berries to a pot that is much taller than the height occupied by the currants, as the foam will rise very high during boiling. Mash the fruits with a potato masher.

4. Add sugar.

5. Mix well.

6. Place the pot with the sugar-berry mixture on high heat. When the mixture boils, do not reduce the heat and do not leave the stove. A vigorous boil will cause the foam to rise sharply to the top - it needs to be stirred almost constantly. Thus, boil the currants for exactly 10 minutes at very active boiling.

7. In the last minutes, it will be slightly more difficult to stir the mass - it will become more viscous. As soon as the foam settles, and large bubbles replace the small boiling ones, turn off the heat.

8. Now it remains to remove the seeds from the jelly by straining it through fine sieve cells. The cake should be squeezed out almost dry.

9. The result is a dense jelly without any additives. It remains to distribute it into clean dry jars (for safety, it’s better to sterilize them, but the preparation also keeps well until the next harvest).

The red currant jelly for winter, packed in jars, can be left in an urban apartment. If placed in the refrigerator, the consistency will become even denser. This "summer on a plate" is always nice to serve with toasts for tea. Enjoy, bon appétit!