Black Currant Jelly
A few days ago my daughter came over for a visit. One of our neighbours had offered her a crop of black currants which they did not want. She requested help picking, so off we went. The large bush was heavily laden and we came away with about 6 litres of berries. That was my contribution, half the picking. One evening and part of a following day later and she had transformed most of the berries into black current jelly in my kitchen.
I found the rich colour of the berries and the curves of the apparatus fascinating. I am not sure I have done the syrup-in-pot-under-jelly-bag shots justice, but hopefully you get the idea.
Black gold, jelly bag and jelly bag frame legs
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I took pictures at still times in the process – there was low light most of it and motion was not going to work. All the images are hand-held, and ISO levels were ramped up as necessary.
I find it amazing the transformation from berries to a nearly black liquid dripping from a jelly bag and finally to a solid jelly, in a shiny new jar. We have eaten some, and it is terrific – a bit tart which is how I like it and a good strong black currant flavour.
Syrup detail under jelly bag
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I won’t recount the recipe, it was adapted from the Joy of Cooking and there are many similar variants out there which I am sure all work well.
- Jars cooling from a low angle
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To see the images below in large format, click on any thumbnail, navigate with the arrows, and escape to return to this page.
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- Closeup of berries cooking
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- Heating the berries in large enameled cast iron pot
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- Jelly bag dripping, legs immersed in black gold
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- Black gold, jelly bag and jelly bag frame legs
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- Syrup detail under jelly bag
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- Jelly bag tide marks the morning after
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- Cooked berries in jelly bag
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- Jars sterilizing in oven
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- Jar lids waiting boiling for sterilisation
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- Jars on cooling rack
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- Cooling rack reflections
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- Cooling jars closeup
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- Cooling jars and bent rack
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Canon 5Dii:
- full jam jars with Nikkor-N 24mm/f2.8 lens at ISO200 and 400, 1/13th to 1/250th second, aperture from f2.8 to f4.
- lids, empty jars and jelly bag shots with Canon 50mm/f1.4 lens at ISO800 and 1250, f1.4, 1/25th to 1/800th second
- berries cooking with Canon 50mm/f1.4 lens at ISO200, f1.4, 1/30th second
What an awesome series, my friend. Love how you can take a relatively ordinary event and through the magic of composition and macro techniques really deliver something that is so compelling and unique!
Thanks Toad! I like series like this. The everyday activities made a bit more interesting. Though when it comes down to it, I think I would rather have the jelly on toast than on ‘film’.
Yum! Blackcurrant!
Breakfast this morning is toast and blackcurrant jam
This brings back lovely memories—when I was a kid my parents always picked wild black currants and my mother made jam. It remains one of my favourites. (I once got daring and tried it as a condiment for garlic sausage—not bad, but I suspect it would go better with other meats.)
Glad to prompt a nice memory
I agree – a non-garlic meat might be a better choice. It might be good with lamb in place of mint jelly, or even in combination.
Rarely do we hear of a photographer slaving over a hot stove …
Ha! Well, this is twice for me. I did a recipe post on making Leek Pie in the fall. So, the evidence is that at least twice a year a consort with a hot stove, and at least one of those times its actually to cook something rather than to photograph it. Not bad eh? For a photographer.
Beautiful and yum! Your pictures look as delicious as it must taste and smell!
I am the lucky one – half an hour of picking in return for a jar of jelly, and a house full of delicious odours, and the fun of taking pictures.
YUM! YUM !!
You’ve got it right Helen. It is very yummy
mmmmmmmmm!!! What time’s breakfast?
Any minute now!
great series! I hope your daughter was satisfied with the end-product. My favourite photo is “Syrup detail under jelly bag”
She was very satisfied, other than with the quantity. I like that photo too – it was that dark syrup that I was trying to get a decent shot of when I started taking pictures.