Blackcurrant and Apple Jam

I do have an assortment of sweet preserves in the cupboard, but we do have a 'picky' one in the house.  I've just found out that he does not really like jellies, or cheeses, but preserves with bits in them.  Therefore with the last of the blackcurrant jam finished, and since this preserve is to him, as marmalades are to me, I felt that I needed to use the remainder of the blackcurrants picked from the garden last summer.

As I rooted through the freezer, I came across a bottle of very carefully made crab apple juice also from last autumn, ready to make into a jelly, but bearing in mind my new found knowledge, thought about putting it together with the blackcurrants.  It was going to have to masquerade as Blackcurrant and Apple Jam.  Of course I had consulted various preserve books, and was most inspired by Basic Basics by Marguerite Patten. There is not one single picture in this book but the reasons why you do things are really well covered.  I keep going back to this book, which has grown to the top of my pile of preserving reference books.

Here is my recipe:

1.4Kg prepared blackcurrants, mine were the largest, ripest, juiciest ones which I have reserved for desserts!
800 ml water
850ml prepared crab apple juice
2 Kg sugar, a present from Diane

Following Mrs Patten's advice, I made sure the blackcurrants were gently poached until absolutely tender.  Then I added the juice, and sugar.  She gives a recipe using blackcurrants and chopped cooking apples.

Just to make sure it had the seal of approval, my dearly beloved had his first taste without the label on it...then I printed Blackcurrant and Apple Jam in bold for the labels, which is easily read first thing in the morning, when he does not wear his glasses, but in the small print I did say it was Crab Apple Jelly! The verdict:  "Really Lovely!"

Blackcurrant Jam

Just how long does it take to make Blackcurrant Jam.  That depends what one measures.  For just a bit of fun, I was thinking about this when I was gardening this morning.  I won't count the planting of the bushes, or the long drive to collect them from the growers...but if I count picking them, then sorting them, washing them, picking off the stems, but not the dried flower ends, this takes about 1 hour for a kilo of berries.  Then there is the boiling, the potting up, and the washing up, washing the kitchen floor etc....another hour and half, but it is all worthwhile I think....

This year the berries are particularly large and juicy, so I added very little water to cook the berries before adding the sugar.  However the crop is not high as the birds and squirrels have been at the bushes, but I did spend a hour or so trying to cover them in their own individual mesh cover one evening a couple of weeks ago.  The hardest part was trying to push the bamboos canes into the ground which was really hard.

Just as I love marmalade on my toast, hubby loves Blackcurrant jam, as well as stirred through yogurt.   Friday I made a few pots to 'lay down' in my preserve cupboard.  I might enter a jar in our Horticultural Club competition.