Cumberland sauce is a real classic and is wonderful when served with gammon, goose or game. It always me think of Autumn and cooler weather, the gorgeous red colouring and spiciness of the sauce and the richness of those dishes. It got me thinking that the sauce is made by using redcurrant jelly so why not make a cumberland jelly by using the red wine that would be in the traditional sauce and insted putting it into your own redcurrant jelly.
Never one to leave something alone when an idea hits the old grey matter, I just had to have a go at making my very own Cumberland Jelly.
This is a quick and easy jelly to make and something that goes really well with gammon or just a plain old ham sandwich. Try it with a cheese and ham toasty and your taste buds with be dancing with joy! I also like to stir in a spoonful of this lovely jelly when I am making gravy, it adds an extra layer and depth of flavour.
Cumberland Jelly
500g/1 lb 2 oz redcurrants
1 orange
1 lemon
1 red onion
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
100ml/3 1/2 fl oz port
Sugar
Rinse and pick over the red currants.
Grate the zest off the lemon and orange and squeeze out the juice.
Finely chop the red onion.
Heat the currants, onions and fruit juices in a heavy based pan along with the spices and cook on a moderate heat until the fruit is tender (about 15 minutes).
Mash the fruit with a potato masher.
Pour the mushy fruit mixture into a jelly bag and leave to drain into a bowl overnight.
Next day pour the resulting juice into a measuring jug and add the port. For every 100ml/3 1/2 fl oz of liquid you will need 75g/3oz of sugar.
Put the juice mixture and sugar in your preserving pan and bring to the boil. Boil until it has reached the setting point, for more information read my post on jelly making.
Ladle into sterilised jars and pop on the lids.
This is the most beautifully coloured jelly, really vibrant, to make sure that your jelly is perfectly clear resist any temptation to squuze the jelly bag when you are about to use the juice. Trying to extract the last drops of currant goodness will result in cloudy jelly!
Use your Cumberland Jelly to liven up all sorts of dishes this Autumn and smile at the pretty colour and zippy taste.
Karon x
- 500g/1 lb 2 oz redcurrants
- 1 orange
- 1 lemon
- 1 red onion
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 100ml/3½ fl oz port
- Sugar
- Rinse and pick over the red currants.
- Grate the zest off the lemon and orange and squeeze out the juice.
- Finely chop the red onion.
- Heat the currants, onions and fruit juices in a heavy based pan along with the spices and cook on a moderate heat until the fruit is tender (about 15 minutes).
- Mash the fruit with a potato masher.
- Pour the mushy fruit mixture into a jelly bag and leave to drain into a bowl overnight.
- Next day pour the resulting juice into a measuring jug and add the port. For every 100ml/3½ fl oz of liquid you will need 75g/3oz of sugar.
- Put the juice mixture and sugar in your preserving pan and bring to the boil. Boil until it has reached the setting point, for more information read my post on jelly making.
- Ladle into sterilised jars and pop on the lids.
Love Cumberland Sauce but every recipe I have tried seems too runny. Your Jelly sounds just perfect Karon, will definitely give this a try, Ann x
Hope you try this one Ann, it really is tasty.
K x
Hello Karon I’m just preparing to cook my currants now, after picking through and cleaning them – for hours. Beautiful fruit though picked from my sister’s plant. Do you know how many pints or cups you finished with based on your recipe? I actually have about quarts of fruit, weighing in at roughly 10 – 10.5 lbs / 5kg. I plan to sweeten the remaining “jam” with some apples and or pears. It’s fruit season in Nova Scotia! Best regards, Janet