This Jam came
out of nowhere. I had no idea we had a blackcurrant tree. My mom came in the
kitchen Friday morning asking me If I knew the Ribena tree was loaded. I was
like, the Ribena who? I promptly took a stroll to the front yard with Lizzie to
have a look and a taste. That bite was intense. Imagine the driest, sour, tartest cranberry you ever had, and times it by 100. That is what this tasted like,
I was shook, but intrigued. I knew Saturday morning this had to become a jam.
In my family, we
are no strangers to Ribena the juice. It’s my younger brother's favorite drink.
Even as an adult, whenever he visits Jamaica my mom has to buy the syrup so he
can mix his juice when he likes. I will say, all my years of drinking Ribena
did not prepare me for the taste of the blackcurrant. I mean cranberry juice is
tart, so having the fruit and it being tart isn’t a shocker. But Ribena the
juice isn’t tart in the least, it's pleasantly sweet. So, I took a huge bite
into this dark purple, juicy, ripe berry only to spit it out immediately. Not
only that, but lizzie was also clamoring to get a hold of one to eat as well. But her little
toddler taste buds were not ready.
I have made
quite a few jams in my lifetime, not on canning levels. But a mason jar here
and there for family use stored in the refrigerator. So this recipe won't give
you 12 jars of jam. It will make one 10 oz jar, for you to store in your
refrigerator as well. If you are an experienced canner and know how to jar it
for shelf storage, then you can do just that. This was one of the easiest jams I’ve
ever made, but I say that every time I make a jam. It has the most intense vivid purple color
imaginable. No blackberry or blueberry in my experience has ever had such a
vivid color after becoming a jam.
It was delicious.
The flavor is complex; sweet, sour, tart, it almost has a ‘stainy’ taste left
on the palette at the end. I can’t say how much I think this would be perfect
on a charcuterie board. Paired with crackers, veggies, smoked cheese, and meats.
Next time I make this I may add some aromatics like cinnamon, rosemary or ginger. For this first attempt, I wanted to
keep the flavor clean. So, I know what the black currant taste like. Now that
that is under my belt we can start experimenting.
2 ¼ cup black
currants 1 ½ cup white sugar ½ teaspoon lime
zest
Instructions
Wash black
currants, strain remove stems, and add to a pot with sugar
Place on high
heat and allow the sugar to melt stirring constantly
One the sugar
is melted and starting to heat up reduce the flames to medium-low and allow the
berries to cook in the sugar
Once it starts
to foam up and start to bubble use a potato masher and mash all the berries
let it cook for
another 20 minutes stirring occasionally
Add the lime
zest and stir
Test the temp,
you want it to be around 218 to 220 the jam will be liquidly
Strain and
remove the seeds, but keep all the pulp
Pour into a sterilized
jar and allow to cool, as it cools it thickens
Store in the
refrigerator.
Greedy Tips:
Yes three
ingredients and no water, sugar is a wet ingredient so most times if a jam uses
a huge amount of sugar there is no need for water.
I did not use a thermometer in making this. I do not own an instant-read, so I used my judgment
and experience in making jam. If you are unsure make sure to use an instant-read thermometer.
Do not add the
lime or lemon juice only the zest. It's for added flavor the juice would make an
already sour fruit even more sour.
No comments:
Post a Comment