Raspberry-White Currant Syrup

I was inspired by the red currant syrup, which has proven to be a huge hit at our house with a spoonful or two in a tall glass of seltzer during the recent heat wave. This version uses the slightly sweeter white currants plus raspberries that are coming in thick and fast in our garden right now.  It's delicious!

4 cups white currants, stemmed and washed
4 cups raspberries
2 cups white sugar
Splash of water

Place the currants, raspberries sugar, and water in a Dutch oven or similar large pan.  Cook over medium heat until the currant skins start to separate from the fruit and it gets pretty soupy.  (Keep cooking it longer if you desire a thicker end product.)  Strain the syrup through a fine sieve into a bowl, then use the back of a spoon to mash and press as much of the remaining flesh and liquid through the sieve as you can. Scrape the bottom of the sieve periodically to get the nice, thick, pectin-rich gel that collects there.  When you're done, pour the syrup into a jar(s).  This is suitable for canning (5 minutes for half pint jars, 10 minutes for pint jars), or just keep it in the fridge.

Makes about 5-6 cups.

Red Currant Syrup

We had a nice crop of red currants on our two bushes this year.  I turned about a quart of them into this tasty syrup, which is good mixed with seltzer or in cocktails.  Cook it a bit longer and you'll get sauce instead of syrup; a bit past that and it'll be more like jelly.

1 quart stemmed red currants

2 cups sugar

Splash of water

Place the currants, sugar, and water in a Dutch oven or similar large pan.  Cook over medium heat until the currant skins start to separate from the fruit and it gets pretty soupy.  (As mentioned above, keep cooking it longer if you desire a thicken end product.)  Strain the syrup through a fine sieve into a bowl, then use the back of a spoon to mash and press as much of the remaining flesh and liquid through the sieve as you can.  When you're done, pour the syrup into a jar(s).  This is suitable for canning (5 minutes for half pint jars, 10 minutes for pint jars), or just keep it in the fridge.

Makes about 1 quart.