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What to do with redcurrants if you don’t want to make jelly

Redcurrant syrup is the perfect Autumn/Winter treat.

A glut of fruit

Redcurrants-those oddly delicious sour little berries that look so pretty and inviting yet you can’t think of anything to do with them.

Perhaps you have been lured into buying some or perhaps you grow them in the garden. Those of you who have redcurrant plants in your garden will know just how many berries you can get off one plant!

Redcurrant ideas

• Jelly
• Icecream
• Crumble
• Sponge
• Cordial
• Syrup

What to make with redcurrants

After searching and searching for recipes with things to do with redcurrants, little actually came to fruit! (terrible pun!)

I don’t have time, patience or space at the moment to turn my fruit into jelly which I have done in the past-delicious and time consuming! We’ve also made handmade redcurrant ice-cream before which was so lovely however we made some icecream on Tuesday so I don’t think two helpings a week is the best idea.

I personally don’t like the taste of cooked or stewed fruit but I know crumbles and sponges are another great go to. However I was after something a little quicker and more accessible. So a drink sprang to mind.

I researched recipes online and found some great ones including redcurrant and raspberry cordial . There are great recipes for cordial that will last but I still wanted something a little simpler. 

Redcurrant syrup recipe

So for my simple redcurrant syrup you will need:

• Redcurrants (fresh or frozen)
• Water
• Caster Sugar (or granulated will work too it just melts slower)

1. Pick your redcurrants (or get redcurrants out of the freezer and skip to 3).
2. Remove most of the stalks and wash till clean.
3. Put the clean wet redcurrants in a pan and put on to boil. No extra water is needed at this stage.
4. Sprinkle in some caster sugar, in ratio to taste/amount. I would say at least a couple of tablespoons per punnet but you can add more later after it is juiced and while it is still hot. If you like it sweet then you’ll need a fair bit if you don’t mind the tart tang then add less. 
5. Let it boil, adding a little bit of water frequently so it doesn’t burn just keep topping it up and stirring-as you do so the redcurrants start to burst. Only add water as needed as you don’t want to have to spend time boiling this off, just add enough to stop it burning.
6. Keep boiling the mixture till it’s at an almost jammy consistency
7. Then pour through a sieve into a bowl, pushing through with a spoon, so that the juice goes into the bowl and all the little bits/seeds/skin stay in the sieve to be thrown away (or used with more fruit in a crumble or similar)
8. Check a little bit with a teaspoon for taste sugar wise and add more quickly if needed and stir. Be careful it is hot!
9. Spoon into (heat proof) glasses (or leave to cool), top up with lemonade or fizzy water, stir and enjoy!

Other ideas to pair with redcurrant syrup

Enjoyed hot or cold here are some flavour pairings to spice up your syrup

Added at the end

• lemon
• fresh mint

Cooked with the syrup

• raspberries
• strawberries
• blackcurrants
• blackberries
• oranges
• rosemary

Let me know in the comments below if you try this and what flavour combinations you go for! 

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