How to make homemade blackcurrant cordial
Rinse the berries under cold running water.
Place them inside the smaller of two saucepans, along with the water.
Place this pan inside a larger pan that has been half-filled with water to create a double boiler (see above for more info on this).
Put the pans on the stove and bring the bottom pan to a gentle boil.
After 10 minutes, use a fork or a potato mashed to squash the currants down, to extract all the juice from the fruit.
Return the pans to the heat and cook for another 10 minutes (20 minutes total).
Carefully pour the fruit and all the juices through a 'nut milk bag' (see above) or a sieve lined with a piece of clean muslin, into a jug.
Measure the juice, using cold water to top it up to 560ml (1 pint) if necessary. Pour this into a clean pan and add in 250g sugar.
Put back on the heat and stirring constantly, very gently dissolve the sugar. DO NOT let it simmer or boil.
Using a clean spoon, taste the syrup. If it isn't sweet enough add more sugar.
You can safely add up to 350g sugar per 560mls of juice without affecting the texture of your syrup too much, although do keep in mind that the more sugar you use, the thicker your syrup will be.
Using a sterilised funnel, pour the syrup into pre-sterilised bottles.
Leave at room temperature to cool down before putting on the (sterilised) lid.
Once cooled, add the lids or corks and place the bottles in the fridge.
If your equipment was spotlessly clean, you store the bottles in the fridge and you follow the measurement guidelines above, your syrup will be tasty and safe to consume for several months.
Enjoy!
Please enjoy my recipe! Jane | hedgecombers.com