North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Thomas Olenio" <tolenio@sentex.net>]

Hello All,

Tom suggested I post this cassis recipe, so here it goes. We are leaving 

this with a friend who will be staying at our farm when we are away for the 

next few weeks. Hopefully she can catch the currants before the birds dive 

in and ransack the bushes. I found this in a wonderful book - " The Cook and 

the Gardner" by Amanda Hesser, A Year of Recipes and Writings from the 

French Countryside.

You can make this in any amount, you just need to be really accurate about 

quantities / proportion for the juice and the sugar. It is made in two 

parts, at picking time and then about 4 to 6 months later. We usually 

complete part two late November or early December when it's really a 

disgusting grey, rainy day and enjoy having the fruit smells all through the 

house. The tasting is also kind of fun. We drizzled pot scrapings over 

biscotti and they were heavenly.

MADAME MILBERT'S CASSIS

Makes 2 One-Quart MasonJars

PART ONE

Ingredients

Enough black currants to fill the jars ( about 3 to 4 cups per jar )

Eau-de-vie or vodka ( the alcohol countent should be 80 proof  ) to cover 

the currants - usually 3 to 3 1/2 cups per jar

Sterilize the jars with boiling water and dry them with a clean towel. 

Loosely pack the black currants in the jars, leaving 1/2 inch of space at 

the top of each jar. Cover with eau-de-vie or vodka and seal. Store for 4 to 

6 months .

PART TWO

You will need sterilized wine bottles and some corks.

Be very accurate when measuring the proportion of juice to sugar.

Bring the fruit and eau-de-vie or vodka mixture to a boil in a saucepan. 

Strain the juice into a large bowl, crushing the fruit with the back of a 

large spoon to extract the maximum amount of juice. Measure the juice you 

obtain, then measure out an equal amount of sugar. For every quart of black 

currant juice, for example, add one quart of sugar and one cup of eau-de-vie 

or vodka.

Combine them in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and cook until the sugar has 

completely dissolved and the mixture turns thick and syrupy, coating the 

back of a spoon. This takes about ten minutes. As the mixture cooks and the 

sugar dissolves, the liquid turns glossy. As it nears the perfect stage, it 

drips from the spoon in a thin, syrupy thread. Remember, it will thicken 

slightly as it cools and should reamin liquid, so do not bring to a jelly 

stage.

Pour through a funnel into sterilized wine bottles. Let cool and seal with 

corks. The bottles are best for pouring.

Comment: When we made this two years ago, it turned quite thick, so we added 

a small amount of vodka which brought it back to syrupy. There's no 

comparison when you do a taste test with the store-bought product.

Enjoy!