Food Freedom ~ Making Blackcurrant Cordial ~ Bealtaine Cottage
Colette O'Neill
Blackcurrants are coming into ripeness.
With the potential of doubling the harvest from last year, I am looking at a possible 200-250 lbs of Blackcurrants.
These are some I picked this morning.
In previous years I have made jams and wines, but this year I have decided to make Blackcurrant Cordial.
After boiling with water, I strained them overnight by hanging a clean pillowcase from this upside down stool, filled with the stewed blackcuckcurrants and water.
It was left to drip overnight into a clean bucket.
This morning it was mixed well with the sugar, then bottled.
The bottles were all corked and topped…these will now keep all winter and through next Spring, ensuring a good supply of top notch blackcurrant cordial, with only organically grown fruit, spring water and sugar as the ingredients…the corporation food pales into insignificance!
The girls ate the leftovers…yum, yum! Nice eggs to come!
I washed the pillowcase out in a bucket of spring water outside and guess what was left in the water?
Lots of blackcurrant seeds, that when emptied over the garden, grow these…Blackcurrant bushes…a perfect permaculture cycle of life!
Almost forgot…here’s the recipe!
Blackcurrant Cordial
1 kilo Blackcurrants
600 mls water
Simmer together for 45 mins.
Strain juice, as above, overnight.
Next morning add 1 kilo of sugar to every litre of juice.
