Jam made from black currants and gooseberries is just a vitamin bomb. It supports the body in winter and is used in folk medicine as an anti-inflammatory agent. It combines all the beneficial properties of both berries. It is flavored with various herbs: mint, cinnamon, rosemary. This helps achieve a richer taste and aroma.
Specifics of preparing gooseberry and currant jam for the winter
Gooseberry and currant jam has its own cooking characteristics. Different sized berries require different cooking times. To prepare assorted delicacies, two methods are used:
- All berries are passed through a meat grinder, turning them into a homogeneous mass.
- First, gooseberries are cooked - they are larger. Then currants are added to it. This allows all the berries to be cooked equally.
Compliance with this rule is mandatory for any crops with berries of different sizes. It should be remembered that the process of preparing raw materials is long and labor-intensive.
Features of selection and preparation of berries
For assorted jam, select slightly unripe gooseberries. This is a guarantee that they will not fall apart during cooking. But cooking dessert from unripe berries is also unacceptable. Gooseberries are harvested about a week before full ripeness.
Take ripe currants. Choose medium-sized berries.
All plant materials must be undamaged. Smooth, unbruised fruits are selected.
Before cooking, all berries need to be sorted, stalks and stigmas removed. Then the prepared raw materials are washed with running water and placed in a sieve or colander. The water should drain.
Rules for preparing containers
To prepare assorted jam for the winter, use a large, wide pan or basin. The dishes can be enameled or stainless steel. During the cooking process, the jam is constantly stirred. It is better to do this with a wooden spoon. The finished jam is placed in glass jars with a capacity of 0.5 or 1 liter. The jars are pre-sterilized. They are covered with lids. You can use plastic or metal lids.
The most delicious recipes
Not all housewives make assorted jam.But those who do this will tell you exactly their recipe for making currant and gooseberry jam. Its taste depends on the combination of ingredients.
With black currant
It’s not difficult to make this jam from a mixture of black currants and gooseberries. The basis of this dessert is gooseberries. You will need 300 grams of it. Three times less currants are taken - only 100 grams.
The berries must be prepared and washed, placed in separate containers. You can't mix them right away. The gooseberries are placed in a spacious bowl. Water is added to it in a volume of 200 grams. The berries are placed on low gas and simmered until the juice appears. Currants are poured into the resulting gooseberry juice. All berries are boiled together.
Noticing that the skin of the currants is cracked, 320 grams of sugar are poured into the container. During the cooking process, the berry mixture is constantly stirred. After all the sugar crystals have dissolved, leave the dessert on the gas for another 7 minutes.
With red currants
To make this jam for the winter, you will need 3 kg of gooseberries and 1 kilogram of red currants. First, the raw materials must be sorted, peeled and washed. Gooseberries should be poured into a deep container and crushed with a masher until the berries burst. Grate the red currants. The juice and pulp are left, and the skins are thrown away. It is to the semi-liquid currant consistency that 2 kg of sugar is added. Everything is thoroughly mixed and put on gas.
Boil currant syrup, making sure that it does not burn. As soon as it boils, mashed gooseberries are added. Stirring, continue cooking the dessert for 20 minutes.
During the cooking process, be sure to remove the foam.
The finished jam is packaged using a ladle into sterilized jars.
With white currants
You can make a wonderful dessert for the winter from a mixture of gooseberries and white currants. The peculiarity of this sweet treat is that all the ingredients are taken in half. For 1 kilogram of gooseberries you will need 1 kilogram of white currants. For 2 kg of berries you need 2 kg of sugar. In this recipe, peeled berries are covered with sugar and left for a day. It is better to put the dishes in the refrigerator.
After a day, the berry mass is put on low gas and heated. Let it boil for 5 minutes and cool. The process is repeated several times to achieve the desired thickness. The finished dessert is packaged in jars with metal lids.
How and for how long can you store the treat?
Assorted jam can be stored for 2 years, provided all the rules are followed:
- The dessert is placed in sterile glass jars.
- The jam is rolled up with metal lids.
- The sweetness is stored in a dark room with average humidity at a temperature of +15-20 degrees Celsius.
Jam, covered with plastic lids, can be stored for a year only in the refrigerator.
