How to make redcurrant jelly: simple recipes

A recipe for redcurrant jelly for the winter must be in every housewife. And preferably not one, because the sweet and sour red berry is very popular and grows in almost every summer cottage. In its natural form, you can’t eat a lot of fruits. And where, if not into useful blanks, to process the surplus of a large crop.

The benefits of currant jelly from red currant

Everyone knows about the benefits of red currant, but it will not be superfluous to repeat that this culture is also recognized as hypoallergenic. That is, it can be used by young children, pregnant or lactating women. But, of course, without fanaticism, since any useful product is good in moderation. Red currant jelly contains a large amount of trace elements and minerals, and young children will prefer this delicacy to natural currants. The delicate texture of jelly has a beneficial effect on the gastric mucosa. And even if everything is in order with health, evening tea with bright and tasty jelly will make the evening even more cozy and homely.

How to cook redcurrant jelly

Making redcurrant jelly at home is very simple. This wonderful product is obtained even by an inexperienced hostess. After all, the pulp of the red berry contains a large amount of natural gelling agent – pectin. The main condition for success is quality products. Before cooking, the fruits must be sorted out, remove debris and rotten fruits, rinse well. The basis of jelly is juice, which is extracted by any available means. Kitchen appliances will help with this. The most convenient is the juicer, thanks to which you can literally get pure juice at the touch of a button. Also, the fruits are crushed in a blender or meat grinder, and then the mass is rubbed through a fine sieve, squeezed through cheesecloth. For some recipes, you will have to blanch the fruits in a small amount of water, and after cooling, separate the juicy mass from the cake.

There are a lot of various recipes for making a sweet and healthy dessert. Thanks to them, you can get a product of various textures – from slightly gelled to very thick. And which of these recipes is more to your taste, the household will decide.

Redcurrant jelly with gelatin

This recipe for redcurrant jelly with gelatin is quick to prepare and requires minimal heat treatment, which preserves the vitamins in the jelly. It will require:

• 1 kg red currant;
• 500-700 g of sugar (depending on the variety of culture and taste preferences);
• 20 g of instant gelatin;
• 50-60 ml of water.

The cooking method is simple:

1. First you need to fill the gelatin with water so that it has time to swell. After put the container with gelatin in a water bath and dissolve it.
2. Extract the juice with pulp from the washed and sorted currants. Pour into a saucepan with a wide bottom (in such a dish the cooking process will be faster), add sugar there.
3. Put on fire and bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Make the fire minimal, pour in a thin stream of gelatin, not forgetting to stir.
4. Without bringing to a boil, hold the mass on low heat for 2-3 minutes and pour into sterilized jars or jelly molds.
5. Banks are closed with lids only after the jelly has completely cooled.

Redcurrant jelly with agar-agar

Habitual and familiar to all gelatin can be successfully replaced with agar-agar. This natural seaweed extract will help turn redcurrant jelly into a denser substance, and the dessert will harden much faster. In addition, a vegetable thickener, unlike an animal thickener, can be boiled, cooled and heated again.

To prepare this delicacy, the set of products is as follows:

• 1 kg of ripe red currant;
• 650 grams of sugar;
• 8 g agar-agar;
• 50 ml water.

Cooking process:

1. Transfer the sorted and washed currants to a saucepan with a thick bottom, add granulated sugar, mash with a potato masher.
2. When the fruits release the juice, and the sugar begins to dissolve, turn on medium heat and bring the mass to a boil. Then reduce the heat and cook with constant stirring for 10 minutes.
3. After that, cool the mass slightly and rub through a sieve, separating the berry puree from the seeds and cake.
4. Dilute agar-agar in water, mix. Add fruit puree to it, mix again and turn on the fire. After boiling, cook over low heat for 5 minutes. The foam formed during the cooking process must be removed.
5. Pour the hot dessert into sterilized jars, and after cooling, close the lid.

If you suddenly want to experiment with flavors and add a new ingredient, for example, an orange, you can melt the jelly, introduce a new product into it, boil it and pour it into molds. Even after such a thermal procedure, the gelling properties of agar-agar will not become weaker.

Redcurrant jelly with pectin

The following recipe for thick redcurrant jelly contains another type of thickener – pectin. Yes, exactly the substance that is in the berries. It perfectly removes toxins and toxins from the body, lowers cholesterol levels, contributing to the gentle cleansing of the body. By the way, pectin is considered the most popular thickener due to its health benefits and ease of use. In addition, pectin is able to slightly increase the volume of the finished dessert, as it absorbs up to 20% of water. Paired with the acid contained in the red currant, it shows a quick solidification.

The following ingredients are used for this recipe:

• 500 g red currant;
• Xnumx g of granulated sugar;
• half a cup of water;
• 5 g pectin.

The cooking method is simple:

1. Mix pectin with water, stir until the solution thickens.
2. Combine the prepared berries with sugar, put the pan on the fire and boil for 2-3 minutes.
3. Rub the slightly cooled mass through a fine sieve.
4. Introduce pectin into the berry puree (the temperature should not fall below 50 ° C), bring the mass to a boil and cook over low heat with constant stirring for no more than 5 minutes.
5. Pour into sterilized jars.

Redcurrant jelly with gelfix

Delicious currant jelly can be made from red currants according to a recipe where gelfix is ​​used as a thickener. Based on it, the dessert also hardens quickly. But gelfix is ​​different, and this must be taken into account when using. The package of this substance always indicates the percentage of fruit and berry base and sugar. In the case of preparing redcurrant jelly, the proportions will be as follows:

• “1:1” – for 1 kg of berry mass, 1 kg of sugar should be taken;
• “2:1” – for 1 kg of redcurrant puree you will need 0,5 kg of sugar.

Necessary ingredients:

• 1 kg of redcurrant berries;
• 500 grams of sugar;
• 250 g of water;
• 1 package of gelfix “2:1”.

The treat is easy to prepare. Mixed with 2 tbsp. is added to the berry puree. l. gelfix sugar and bring to a boil. Then add the remaining sugar and cook for about 3 minutes.

Redcurrant jelly recipes for the winter

Red currant jelly in winter is an excellent preventive measure against colds and a way to boost immunity. This vitamin dessert will always come in handy in the cold season, also because it is well stored.

A simple recipe for redcurrant jelly for the winter

Making redcurrant jelly for the winter according to this simple recipe will not take much time. In addition, it turns out quite thick and moderately sweet. For cooking, you need a minimum set of ingredients:

• 1 kg red currant;
• 0,8 kg of granulated sugar;
• 50 ml water.

Preparation:

1. Transfer the pure fruits to a saucepan and sprinkle with sugar.
2. When the berry starts juice, add water and put the pan on the fire.
3. After boiling, make a minimum fire and cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Rub the slightly cooled mass through a sieve, boil again and immediately pour into sterilized jars.

Thick redcurrant jelly

Thick currant jelly is a very popular delicacy, which, due to its consistency, can be used as an excellent addition to fresh cottage cheese, pancakes, cheesecakes, toasts, as a decoration for ready-made pastries. How to make thick redcurrant jelly is shown in detail in the video: 

Redcurrant jelly without sterilization

Natural redcurrant delicacy without sterilization is good because it can be stored in the refrigerator during the winter period. In addition, more vitamins are stored in a product that has not undergone heat treatment. According to this recipe, redcurrant jelly is prepared without gelatin or other thickeners. For 1 liter of juice, take 1 kg of sugar and mix until it is completely dissolved. After that, the mass is packaged in clean jars and put in the refrigerator. Thanks to the gelling abilities of natural pectin, the mass becomes thick. Sugar serves as an excellent preservative.

Redcurrant jelly with orange

The unusual combination of orange and red currant will delight you with a real explosion of taste and aroma in winter. The product has a beautiful color and thick consistency. For cooking you need:

1. Grind 1 kg of redcurrant fruits and 2 medium oranges (remove the seeds before that).
2. Add 1 kg of sugar to the berry-citrus puree and put on a small fire, bring to a boil.
3. Stirring constantly, cook for about 20 minutes.
4. Quickly pack in sterile jars and seal.

To give this jelly an oriental touch, you can add a cinnamon stick, a little cloves and nutmeg to it. The spicy mixture must be tied in cheesecloth and lowered into a boiling mass, and removed before the end of cooking.

Redcurrant jelly with sprigs

The fruits of red currant are small, tender, and it is rarely possible to pick them off the twig without crushing them. The process is especially annoying if you have to sort out a whole basin in this way. Therefore, many housewives are in no hurry to overload themselves with work. And they do it right. The crop only needs to be cleaned of sticks and leaves (it does not matter if a few small leaves go unnoticed). You can blanch or boil the berries directly with the twigs, because in the process of rubbing through a sieve, all the cake is perfectly separated from the juicy part.

Redcurrant liquid jelly

Yes, there are not lovers of thick jelly. Therefore, in order for the resulting redcurrant jelly to have a liquid consistency, no thickeners should be added to it. As a basis, you can take a simple recipe for boiled redcurrant jelly, but the amount of water in it needs to be increased, and the amount of sugar slightly reduced.

Red currant jelly with stones

This recipe also cuts down on cooking time as it only involves chopping the fruit, skipping the process of separating the pomace from the pulp. The jelly turns out to be thick and tasty, and small bones are a small problem if the berry mass is carefully chopped in a blender. Proportions of ingredients as in a simple recipe.

Redcurrant jelly with watermelon

Red currant goes well with other berries and fruits. Watermelon will help to give a touch of freshness to the sweet and sour fruit. The preparation of this seemingly exotic delicacy is actually not difficult:

1. Take 1 kg of redcurrant fruits and watermelon pulp (seedless).
2. Sugar in ratio to currant 1:1.
3. Pour the fruits with sugar, mash, add pieces of watermelon, mash again.
4. Put on the stove, after boiling, reduce the heat to a minimum and, with constant stirring, cook for 30-45 minutes.
5. Rub the slightly cooled mass through a sieve, transfer to jars. Close with lids after complete cooling.

How long does redcurrant jelly freeze?

The setting time of jelly is influenced by many factors. This includes the presence of a thickener, the temperature in the room where the jelly cools, the recipe composition, and even the variety of red currant – after all, some have more pectin, while others have less. As a rule, simple jelly finally hardens within 3-7 days. With agar-agar, thickening begins during the cooling process, when the temperature of the dessert has reached 45 ° C. Therefore, if the ratio of ingredients is observed correctly, you should not worry, you just need to wait a bit.

Why redcurrant jelly does not freeze

Sometimes it happens that redcurrant jelly does not thicken. This happens in case of non-compliance with the cooking technology, for example, when gelatin boiled along with berry puree. The product also hardens poorly in case of non-compliance with the proportions of the ingredients, for example, if the liquid content is more than expected. Also, problems can arise with expired or low-quality gelling ingredients – gelatin, gelfix, etc.

Why redcurrant jelly darkened

Usually the delicacy has a bright red color. But if you do not observe the cooking time, then the overcooked product will have a dark color. Also, the color changes to darker if the jelly contains dark-colored berries, such as blueberries.

Caloric value

The calorie content of the product directly depends on the recipe. 100 g of simple redcurrant jelly contains about 220 kcal. The more sugar, the higher the calorie content of the product. Thickeners also have calories:

• agar-agar – 16 kcal;
• pectin – 52 kcal;
• gelatin – 335 kcal.

Storing redcurrant jelly

The shelf life depends on the technology of preparation.

1. Heat treatment allows you to store the product for almost 2 years. Corked jars can be stored even at room temperature, but out of the reach of sunlight.
2. Raw jelly is stored during the winter period and only in the refrigerator – on the bottom shelf. The maximum keeping quality of this product is 1 year.

It is best to pack a sweet dessert in small glass containers so that the started jar does not stand open for a long time.

Conclusion

The recipe for redcurrant jelly for the winter will not only help to please the family with a delicious treat in the cold season, but also strengthen the immune system. The addition of a variety of ingredients and cooking methods will satisfy any need. Those with a sweet tooth, those who fast, and those who watch their weight will also be happy. The only limitation for dessert is its amount eaten at one time. Do not forget that excess sugar leads to weight gain.