Blackcurrant jelly

Blackcurrant jelly is really easy to make. You don’t even have to remove the blackcurrants from the stalks. I mislaid my jelly bag years ago and instead I now use a sieve with extendable sides or a sieve that will fit over a large stainless steel bowl lined generously with muslin.

Put the blackcurrants in a heavy-based saucepan with the water and simmer gently for about 30 minutes until the fruit is very soft and pulpy. Stir occasionally.

Line a sieve with muslin and spoon or pour the contents of the saucepan into the lined sieve. Cover with a tea towel and leave overnight. The object of the exercise is that all the juice will drip into the bowl below. Resist the temptation to press the pulp with a wooden spoon to force the juice through as this will make the jelly cloudy.

Next day discard the pulp (keep the muslin though – it can be washed on a boil wash and reused).

Measure the juice extracted and return it to the saucepan, adding 450g of sugar for each 600ml of juice extracted.

Heat over a gentle heat until the sugar is dissolved, then bring to the boil and boil rapidly for 15 minutes, or until setting point is reached.

Take the saucepan off the heat and remove any scum. Pour into sterilised jars and seal with a lid.