When I lived in England I grew to love, love, love black currants (and the drink "Cider and Black"!). I wondered why here in the US, black currants, and black currant flavored foods are almost unheard of. Instead we have grape juice and grape flavored foods. In my not-so-humble opinion grapes are for popping in your mouth, not for making jelly. My friend Wikipedia, explained why black currants are rare here. However, they are making a comeback and are available at our farmer's market in July. I experimented making my own homemade version of Ribena. It was super easy and much more delicious.Heat a pint of black currants with some sugar (you need more than you think) to taste until the currants have popped open. Strain and add to some seltzer. Yummy! And such a beautiful color! I added the mint to the glass for the photo, not because I am in the habit of doing so but because I wanted to impress you. Did it work?
Next I am going to try making black currant ice cream. Mmmmm.Update: I made the ice cream using about 1 cup of the above syrup in a standard vanilla ice cream recipe. It was a little too much for my ice cream maker but oh-so-delicious!
Currant ice cream!!! We have a red currant bush. Do these recipes still apply? I have never done anything with my red currants.
ReplyDeleteOhh, my favorite berry! But I cannot find much of it in California. It is even disappearing from Russia, where "smorodina" (currant) anything was extremely popular just a few years ago. Thankfully, throughout Europe it is available. I have learned the name in most countries, e.g., in Germany it is called Johannesbeere (John's Berry).
ReplyDeleteSarah, do you live in the USA? Is it truly possible to grow currants here? I thought our climate worked against that (not cold enough).
The picture is lovely. I'm impressed!!
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