Make the most of gluts with alcoholic ‘Ribena’, compotes and cake
Currants and berries tend to come in gluts and don’t keep for very long, so it’s handy to have easy recipes for blackcurrants and raspberries, etc. For more fruity ideas, check out my fruity cakes and how to deal with plum and apple gluts. Apologies for the pictures – they’re quite old. It shows how much camera phone technology has progressed! I grow Ben More blackcurrants. Here’s more on how to grow them for beginners, and my blackcurrants page.
Easy recipes for blackcurrants – Blackcurrant liqueur
“A waste of good vodka,” my other half said. He doesn’t even drink it! I don’t think so. Take a half-full bottle of vodka (or brandy) and add blackcurrants until the bottle is full. Leave for at least six months. I opened mine after eight months, and it is stunning – the smell and taste of blackcurrants are unbelievably good.
Blackcurrant and gooseberry compote
This gorgeous combination of tart berries is the perfect partner to vanilla yoghurt, ice cream, and rice pudding. It even makes ultra-healthy breakfast cereals that taste like cardboard palatable. As you can see, the colour varies according to the proportions of fruit. The top picture is much lighter than the original below, as it has lots of gooseberries.
It’s a doddle to make (basically an unset jam). Take a mix of blackcurrants and gooseberries. Place them in a non-stick pan with sugar to taste. Heat slowly, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved and the fruit is cooked. Pot up into sterilised jars (wash thoroughly, then put in a cool oven for 10 minutes. Keep it in the fridge.
Easy recipes for blackcurrants – Red berry compote
Unopened jars will keep for a year or more. You can make it with tayberries, loganberries, hybrid berries or raspberries (or any combination). You can use blackberries if you don’t mind the bigger pips. It’s not as firm a set as a jam, which makes it more versatile, and it will keep longer than the above recipe, which has much less sugar.
My favourites? Stir it into homemade rice pudding or mix it with a tot of vodka over vanilla ice cream.
- Proportions: 2lb of fruit to 2lb of sugar, plus 2 tablespoons of lemon juice per lb
- 1 packet of pectin powder
Put the sugar and lemon juice in a preserving pan and stir over a very low heat until it becomes a syrup, then slowly bring to the boil. Pour the hot syrup over the fruit and leave to stand for a few hours. Put the fruit and sugar mixture back in the preserving pan, add the pectin and heat very slowly until boiling (don’t worry if you have “toffee-like” bits – they will dissolve).
Bring to a rolling boil for 4-5 minutes, then test for a set (put a drop on a cold saucer, push it with your finger – if it wrinkles, it’s done, if not, give it another minute). Leave to cool for 15 minutes, then skim off any scum. Pour into clean jars, sterilised on a very low heat in the oven for 10 minutes. Add a disc of waxed paper to the top of each jar, seal and allow to cool thoroughly. Store in a cool, dark place unopened, then in the fridge once opened.
Crusty-topped vanilla and blackcurrant cake
- 6oz/150g soft butter
- 6oz/150g golden caster sugar
- 9oz/225g SR flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
Topping:
- 6oz/150g blackcurrants (or redcurrants/whitecurrants, etc)
- 5oz/125g ordinary sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C, gas mark 4. Grease a round 8″/20cm cake tin with a loose bottom and line the base with baking parchment. In a mixer, put the butter, caster sugar, flour (sieved), eggs and vanilla into the bowl and beat for about 5 minutes, until pale and creamy. Spread one-third of the cake mixture into the tin and sprinkle with one-third of the berries.
Add another third of the cake mixture and do the same with the berries. Finish off with the remaining mixture and place the cake in the centre of the oven for about an hour (check after 50 minutes). The cake is done when a skewer comes out clean.
Put the rest of the currants in a bowl with the sugar, add lemon juice and mash with a fork. With a skewer, poke holes all over the top of the cake (don’t go mad or it will fall apart. Remember what the probation officer said). Spoon fruit mixture over the hot cake evenly and leave to cool completely before removing it from the tin – the top should be crisp.
NB – if you’re freezing this cake, don’t put the topping on – only do this after it has been defrosted.
Easy recipes for blackcurrants – Clear-out crumble
A crumble is a fine way to dispose of the odds and ends of fruit and jam. This one ended up with red gooseberries, Granny Smith apples and the end of a jar of hybrid berry compote, plus Fairtrade coconut shavings in it.
Filling:
- Apples (cooking or dessert) – approx half a pound
- Any suitable mixture of soft fruit/compote, equal to the quantity of apple
- Sugar to taste
Crumble:
- 3oz butter or marg
- 4oz sugar (I used demerara)
- 9oz flour
- 1oz oatmeal
- 1oz coconut
Poach the fruit until soft with the sugar, then put it in an ovenproof bowl.
For the topping, sieve flour into a bowl, rub in the butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs, and then stir in the sugar, oatmeal, and coconut. Spoon on top of the fruit and bake at 200°C, Gas mark 6, for 45 minutes. Serve with custard, vanilla ice cream or double cream.
