No-Cook Red Currant Syrup Recipe

4.72 from 7 votes

No-Cook Red Currant Syrup Recipe

My family recipe to make red currant syrup with freshly picked red currants. This is a simple no-cook recipe, retaining all fruity flavors.

Prep Time30

Waiting Time2 5

Total Time2 5 30

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: Austrian, German

Servings: 16oz or 500 ml bottles

Calories: 1124kcal

Author: Helene Dsouza

Equipment

1 Large Bucket with a Lid food grade (buckets for fermentation are ok too)
1 Long Handle Wooden Cooking Spoon
1 Soup Ladle
1 Fine-Mesh Strainer large
1 Large Funnel
8 16 oz or 500 ml Glass Bottles with a Cap clean *see Notes
8 labels

Ingredients

For the Syrup:

4.4 Pounds Red Currants fresh, cleaned without leaves
10 Cups Water
¼ Cup Citric Acid
10 Cups Sugar *See Notes
1 Tablespoon Sorbic Acid

US - Metric

Instructions

To prep fresh berries

Pick your fruits from the bush and remove all green parts, including leaves. Rinse berries in clear water. We normally add a dash of vinegar (white wine or distilled vinegar) so to get rid of insects.
Weigh your berries.
4.4 Pounds Red Currants
Place your berries into a clean food grade bucket.
Pour water over the berries and add all the citric acid. Mix it all well.
10 Cups Water, ¼ Cup Citric Acid
Close your bucket with a lid.

To infuse

Leave to infuse for 2 days in total. Stir 1–2 times a day during the infusion period, and always close the bucket with the lid again so that no impurities get in.
Two days later, the berries will have lost some of their gorgeous red colors. At this point, add in the sugar and the sorbic acid.
10 Cups Sugar, 1 Tablespoon Sorbic Acid
Mix the whole content well again so that the sugar is well dissolved.
With the sugar and sorbic acid added to the redcurrants, leave to sit 5 hours.

Bottle syrup

Prepare and place a sieve over your funnel and put the funnel into your first clean bottle opening.
With a ladle, take out the infusion and pour it through the sieve and funnel into the bottle.
Repeat the process, empty your bucket and fill up all your clean bottles. Press the berries through the sieve to take out and collect all the infused syrup. Discard the berry mash.
Close your bottles with a clean bottle cap. Clean the bottles under running water to get rid of all stickiness. Dry them with a kitchen towel and label with name and date.
Store bottles in a cool and dry place on a shelf. I don't recommend keeping them on the floor in your cellar due to temperature differences.

Video

Notes

For the sugar, you can use regular normal sugar, but some countries sell granulated syrup sugar, which dissolves better, so get that if you can. Otherwise, to dissolve the sugar fast, use powdered sugar.

Food grade citric acid, as well as food grade sorbic acid, can be commonly bought online. We purchase ours in Europe from the grocery store (they only sell these in the summer months) or in the local pharmacy. The acids help in the preservation of the red currant syrup.

You will need about 8–9 bottles. Keep a few extra around, just in case. The bottles need to be cleaned well. That means brushed with a bottle brush and soapy water. Don't forget to rinse! Ideally, to sterilize the bottles, wash in the dishwasher.

Holds easily over the winter for up to a year if stored in sterilized bottles and in a dry, dark and cool place. Don't keep them on the floor in your cellar because the floor temperature might not do the syrup well.

Do not reduce the sugar quantity! Do not skip adding citric acid and sorbic acid! These ingredients are required to make this syrup without it fermenting and exploding it in your face. (I have to spell it out because someone did it their way and complained).

Nutrition