About the bake
Have you been out foraging blackcurrants? We've got the recipe for you. This jam is a gamechanger- the tartness of the blackcurrants together with the sloe gin gives this jam a really rich and tasty flavour. Don't worry if you haven't got the right weight of berries, if you use 1.2 times the weight of the fruit in sugar, and 0.6 times the weight of the fruit in water. To give you an idea, we made 4 jars of jam using 675g fruit and this is the recipe.
Method
Step 1:
Before you start put the saucers in the deep freeze to chill and sterilise your jars. Do this by washing them in hot soapy water, rinsing in clean water and then allowing to dry in an oven heated to 150ºc/130ºCfan for about 15 minutes.We put ours on a baking tray to make them easier to manouvre.
Step 2:
Put the fruit and water into your pan and gently simmer until tender, this will take about 10 minutes. While you do this warm your sugar in a bowl in the oven with the jars.
Step 3:
When the berries are tender, add the sugar and stir gently. Then over a very low heat allow the sugar to dissolve completely. This will take about 15 minutes. You can check that the sugar has dissolved by looking at the mixture on the back of a spoon. If you can still see grains, heat for a few minutes more. When the sugar has dissolved increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
Step 4:
If you have a sugar thermometer, clip it to the pan now. Boil the mixture for 10 minutes or until it reaches 105ºc stirring occasionally to stop it catching. Remove the jam pan from the heat.
Step 5:
To test for a set, take one of your plates from the freezer and carefully remove a teaspoon of jam and pour it onto the plate. Leave for a few seconds and then push with your fingertip. If it wrinkles, the jam will set, if it doesn’t, return the jam to the heat and bring to the boil again for a few minutes more and check again.
Step 6:
When you have a set, remove the jam from the heat and skim off any scum. Stir in the Sloe Gin.
Step 7:
Decant into your warm jars, top with a wax circle and seal with the lid while still hot. This jam will keep unopened for up to one year and once opened up to one month in the fridge.
Ingredients
For The Jam
- 675g Blackcurrants
- 825g Silver spoon preserve sugar
- 425ml Water
- 75ml Sloe gin
Utensils
- 4 x 450ml jam jars with lids
- 2 saucers
- Baking tray
- Maslin pan or a large heavy based saucepan
- Mixing bowl
- Sugar thermometer
- 2 waxed paper circles
Nutritional Information
per 20g- 53cal Energy
- 0g Fat
- 0g of which Saturates
- 12g Carbohydrates
- 12g of which Sugars
- 0g Protein
- 0g Salt
Recipe Reviews
Made this with the sloes from the gin in a muslin bag for extra flavour. It set quickly, maybe because I only had a few blackcurrants. Very nice.
This set quickly, maybe because I did not have the full quantity of blackcurrants in my garden. I used the sloes from making the gin in a jelly bag to enhance the flavour. Very nice
Ingredients
For The Jam
- 675g Blackcurrants
- 825g Silver spoon preserve sugar
- 425ml Water
- 75ml Sloe gin
Utensils
- 4 x 450ml jam jars with lids
- 2 saucers
- Baking tray
- Maslin pan or a large heavy based saucepan
- Mixing bowl
- Sugar thermometer
- 2 waxed paper circles
Nutritional Information
per 20g- 53cal Energy
- 0g Fat
- 0g of which Saturates
- 12g Carbohydrates
- 12g of which Sugars
- 0g Protein
- 0g Salt