Blackcurrant liqueur

The fruit liqueurs (or "creams" in French) are a mix of neutral alcohol in which fruits are macerated, and sugar syrup. They are the basis of the very famous "Kir", mixture of dry white wine and blackcurrant liqueur.

This recipe is for blackcurrant, but it can be made with other soft fruits like raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc.

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For500 ml 1 litre 2 litres 3 litres

MeasuresMetric Metric weight Metric volumes Read more...

For 1 litre,
you will need:

700 g blackcurrant
600 ml neutral-flavoured eau-de-vie
2 blackcurrant leafs (optional)
500 g caster sugar
300 ml water

Nutritional information:

Whole recipe

Calories

6620

331%

Proteins

Carbohydrates

598g

56%

Fats

Per 100 g

Calories

315

16%

Proteins

<1g

<1%

Carbohydrates

28g

Fats

% are calculated relative to a Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI of 2000 k-calories by day for a woman (change to a man).

Times:

Preparation : 15 min.
Cooking : 15 min.
Start to finish : 30 min.

Preservation : Several months.

How much?

For 1 litre : 13.50 €

Change currency:

Note : These prices are only approximate. Read more...

Step by step recipe:

Put 2 blackcurrant leafs in a 1 litre jar.
Quickly wash 700 g blackcurrant under the tap, drain and dry them. Fill up the jar.
Fill the jar with 600 ml neutral-flavoured eau-de-vie. The fruit must be completely covered with the alcohol.
Seal the jar and leave in a cool and dark place for about 3 months.
After 3 months, the alcohol will have taken on a pretty red/purple color.
This means that all the flavour of the fruits has been transferred to the alcohol.
Empty the contents of the bottle into a strainer placed over a high-sided container (to avoid splashes - they stain!) and collect the blackcurrant juice.
Pour the juice into a pan. You can now discard the fruit, they have lost all their taste.
Prepare the sugar syrup: In another pan put 500 g caster sugar and 300 ml water.
Heat to about 110°C or 230°F, you can use a thermometer to check. It takes about 10 minutes to reach this temperature.
Leave the syrup to cool for about 10 minutes, until the temperature drops below 100°C or 212°F.
Carefully mix the two liquids together: Add the blackcurrant juice to the syrup.
Then pour this mix into the other pan.
Repeat this until the two liquids are thoroughly mixed. It's important to do it like this because if you introduce a spoon or other utensil to stir with, the syrup might start to crystallize.
The blackcurrant liqueur is now ready, and can be bottled.

Remarks:

Its essential to use good quality fruit for this recipe, with bad or ordinary fruit you will have poor liqueur, and with well-flavoured fruit a great one. Best results are obtained with wild fruits, especially raspberries.

A couple of leaves can be left in with blackcurrants, but not with other fruit.

If you are making strawberry liqueur, cut large fruit into 2 or 4.

To make "Kir", the famous aperitif, pour one measure of blackcurrant liqueur into a glass and about six measures cool dry white wine. You can also make a "Communard" by replacing the white wine with a light red one. A votre santé !

If you have a lot of blackcurrants in season, make blackcurrant coulis.

Recipes which use it: 2

Blackcurrant sorbet for Edith - Pears in red wine with blackcurrant

Source:

After Gaston Lenôtre.

Last modified on: February 21^th 2011

Your 4 comments or questions on this recipe:

- - -

Thank you for this excellent Recipe - it tastes delicious!

Comment #1 posted on july 27^th 2010 at 13:14 by Johannes.

Thank you for this recipe... I traveled to Europe and I really enjoyed having this blackcurrant liqueur in drinks, only to find that I can't find it in the United States! I would love to try this recipe once blackcurrants are in season. Maybe I'll try it with strawberries now! :)

Question: How do the leaves add to the flavour of the mix? And why is it that you advise not to include leaves on other fruits? What fruits have you tried that you really recommend? Thank you!

Comment #2 posted on april 4^th 2012 at 19:21 by Jessica.

This is because blackcurrant leaves give some taste to the alcohol, less than fruits of course but a bit. It seems that it only occurs with blackcurrants, I've tried with other fruits and it make no change at all.

I have tried with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and cherries. The best results is with raspberries, especially wild ones, absolutely fabulous!

Comment #3 posted on april 4^th 2012 at 22:55 by jh.

I bought a black currant bush by accident five years ago, and it now produces quarts of berries each season. This recipe is the best thing I have found to do with the fruit--great to drink with champagne and a great gift at the holidays. Thanks for easy-to-follow instructions.

Comment #4 posted on april 14^th 2012 at 19:26 by Rob.