Blackcurrant cassis

Serves: 0
Course: Dessert
Cooking Time: 1666 hrs 39 mins

Ingredients

  • 450g ripe blackcurrants, rinsed
  • 450g caster sugar
  • 6 small, tender blackcurrant leaves
  • 450mls brandy

Put the blackcurrants into a bowl and mash thoroughly. Add the caster sugar and mash again. Scrape the purple mush into a large sterilised kilner jar, drop the leaves in and pour over the brandy. Stir well.

Leave on a warm windowsill for a week, giving it an occasional stir, then fish out the blackcurrant leaves and put the jar in a cool dark location. Allow to steep or macerate for three months then strain out the fruit – boozy blackcurrants make a great tart or crumble when combined with cooking apples – and pour the resulting liquid into sterilised bottles.Allow to mature for at least another three months. Makes 900mls of cassis, approx.

Marie Claire Digby

Marie Claire Digby

Marie Claire Digby is the former Senior Food Writer at The Irish Times