The community garden is an Eden in my urban neighborhood. Inside its gates, honey bees hover over flowers, powdered with pollen. Squirrels scurry across tree branches that gardeners once wove into fences. Rabbits appear out of nowhere, silent and watchful.The garden is particularly magical by mid-June. Tiny pale blossoms cover the red currant bushes. Within a week, the blossoms transition into the caps of green berries that dangle from branches in loose strands. By mid-July, the berries ripen into a breathlessly regal red. Somewhat translucent, they pick up the sunlight and glow like the uncut rubies once worn by the Nizams of Hyderabrad.
In some ways, I feel silly harvesting such dazzlingly beautiful fruit to make jelly. The berries seem more fit for the hands of jewelers. (Perhaps that's why pastry chefs across Paris use them to crown tarts and tortes and other masterfully crafted confections.) Are there novel ways to incorporate their tart flavor?
RED CURRANT JELLY
Makes about 3 1/2 cups
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds red currants
1/2 cup water
.5 ounce dry pectin
3 1/2 cups sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
Gently wash berries. Pull from little branches and place in a saucepan. Crush with a potato masher or the bottom of a cup.
Add water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
Place a 12 x 12 piece of cheese cloth over a bowl. Using a spoon, place 1/3 of the cooked berries over the cloth. Squeeze berries to release juice. Repeat with the rest of the cooked berries.
Pour juice into a saucepan. Mix in sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add pectin. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 2 minutes. Carefully remove from heat. Skim off foam with a spoon.
Cool and transfer to glass jars.
