Cooked blackcurrant syrup
The deep red of blackcurrant in a glass of sparkling water, the homemade version of the red soda that delighted childhood. Without colourings, without artificial flavours.
Cooked blackcurrant syrup is the traditional European recipe for turning the blackcurrant bush's intense (and brief) harvest into a drink for the whole year. Unlike the cold syrup of lemon balm or elderflower, here you heat briefly to dissolve the sugar and extract the berry's deep anthocyanins. The result: a concentrated, fruity, slightly tart syrup that you dilute in sparkling water for a homemade soda. It's one of the easiest recipes to grow yourself when you have a blackcurrant bush in the garden.
Ingredients
- 800 g
- Caster sugar300 g
adjust to your taste, can go down to 200 g if you prefer it less sweet; replacing it with honey gives a rounder syrup but one that keeps less well
- Water50 cl (500 ml)
- Fresh lemon juiceThe juice of 2 lemons
Equipment
- •1 large pan
- •1 wooden spoon
- •1 muslin or fine cheesecloth to filter
- •3 sterilised 50 cl glass bottles (or 1.5 L drink-type bottles for freezing)
Steps
- 1
Strip the blackcurrants
Strip the blackcurrants: remove each berry from its cluster by hand, or with a fork by combing the clusters. If you use frozen berries, it's already done, which is actually very handy, as freezing slightly ruptures the cells and releases the juice better.
15 min
- 2
Heat
In a large pan, put the blackcurrants with the water and the sugar. Heat over medium heat, stirring gently to dissolve the sugar. When it begins to simmer, let it simmer for 10 minutes, stirring gently from time to time. The berries will burst and the liquid will take on a deep red-purple hue.
15 min
- 3
Add the lemon
Off the heat, add the juice of the 2 lemons. The acidity of the lemon stabilises the colour, balances the taste, and slightly improves keeping. Let it cool for 30 minutes.
30 min cooling
- 4
Filter
Filter through a muslin stretched over a bowl. You can press lightly with the back of a spoon, but don't press too hard, otherwise your syrup will be cloudy. Save the crushed berries to use in a yogurt or a coulis.
10 min
- 5
Bottle
Pour the syrup into sterilised bottles. Close. Keeps: 6 weeks in the fridge. To keep it longer, freeze in 1.5 L plastic bottles (drink within the year).
10 min
Storage
6 weeks in the fridge. Several months in the freezer in a plastic bottle. If a layer of mould appears on the surface, discard without hesitation.
How to use it
One finger of syrup in a large glass of sparkling water = homemade soda. With champagne or white wine + 1 tbsp of syrup = kir royal or classic kir. Over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. As a coulis over crêpes or fromage blanc. For children: a homemade alternative to industrial soda, without colourings or artificial flavours.
Health properties
- Anthocyanins (red pigments), partly retained by short cooking
- Vitamin C partly retained (50% destroyed by cooking, but the blackcurrant has so much to start with that enough remains)
- Pectins (filling effect) partly retained
- No flavourings, no colourings or phosphoric acid, unlike an industrial soda
These preparations belong to cooking and herbal tradition: they nourish and support, do not “cure” anything and replace no treatment. Ask a doctor or pharmacist before prolonged use, if under treatment, pregnant or breastfeeding, or for a child. Follow the stated storage precautions strictly.
Precautions
Very sugary (40 g of sugar per 100 ml of pure syrup, i.e. ~16 g per diluted serving): to dose for diabetics. For children: it remains a concentrated sugar, to be given in moderation. People on anticoagulants: blackcurrant may interact, mention it to your doctor if you consume a lot. Not for babies under 1 year (concentrated sugar on emerging teeth).
Sources & tradition
- · Burgundian tradition (land of blackcurrant and kir)
- · European Pharmacopoeia, Ribis nigri fructus
- · *L'autosuffisance, c'est possible !* (Cherche-Midi)