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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- Cooling jars and bent rack
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- Cooling jars closeup
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- Cooling rack reflections
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- Jars on cooling rack
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- Jar lids waiting boiling for sterilisation
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- Jars sterilizing in oven
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- Cooked berries in jelly bag
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- Jelly bag tide marks the morning after
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- Syrup detail under jelly bag
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- Black gold, jelly bag and jelly bag frame legs
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- Jelly bag dripping, legs immersed in black gold
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- Heating the berries in large enameled cast iron pot
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- Closeup of berries cooking
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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
burnt embers 
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!
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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’.
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Yum! Blackcurrant!
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Breakfast this morning is toast and blackcurrant jam 🙂
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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.)
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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.
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Rarely do we hear of a photographer slaving over a hot stove …
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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.
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Beautiful and yum! Your pictures look as delicious as it must taste and smell!
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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.
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YUM! YUM !!
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You’ve got it right Helen. It is very yummy 🙂
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mmmmmmmmm!!! What time’s breakfast?
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Any minute now!
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great series! I hope your daughter was satisfied with the end-product. My favourite photo is “Syrup detail under jelly bag”
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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.
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