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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.

856 K 4× 4.1/5 (202 reviews)

55 min.

Easy

13.50 €

500 ml

5 Ingredients

Last modified on: August 3^rd 2013

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For 500 ml, you will need:

1 350 g blackcurrant
2 300 ml neutral-flavoured eau-de-vie
3 1 blackcurrant leaf (optional)
4 250 g caster sugar
5 150 ml water
Total weight: 1,050 grams

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Times for this recipe

Preparation: 45 min.

Cooking: 10 min.

All in all: 55 min.

When should you start or finish this recipe?

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Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 5 min.

Put 1 blackcurrant leaf in a 1 litre jar.

Stage 2 - 10 min.

Quickly wash 350 g blackcurrant under the tap, drain and dry them.

Fill up the jar.

Stage 3 - 2 min.

Fill the jar with 300 ml neutral-flavoured eau-de-vie. The fruit must be completely covered with the alcohol.

Stage 4 - 1 min.

Seal the jar and leave in a cool and dark place for about 3 months.

Stage 5

After 3 months, the alcohol will have taken on a pretty red/purple color.

Stage 6

This means that all the flavour of the fruits has been transferred to the alcohol.

Stage 7 - 10 min.

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.

Stage 8 - 1 min.

Pour the juice into a pan.

You can now discard the fruit, they have lost all their taste.

Stage 9 - 2 min.

Prepare the sugar syrup:

In another pan put 250 g caster sugar and 150 ml water.

Stage 10 - 10 min.

Heat to about 110°C or 230°F, you can use a thermometer to check.

It takes about 10 minutes to reach this temperature.

Stage 11

Leave the syrup to cool for about 10 minutes, until the temperature drops below 100°C or 212°F.

Stage 12

Carefully mix the two liquids together:

Add the blackcurrant juice to the syrup.

Stage 13

Then pour this mix into the other pan.

Stage 14 - 10 min.

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.

Stage 15

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.

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

And to drink?

To make "Kir", the famous aperitif, pour one measure of blackcurrant liqueur into a glass and about six measures cool dry white wine (typically white Bourgogne like "Bourgogne aligoté" or equivalent).

You can also make a "Communard" by replacing the white wine with a light red one. A votre santé !

Keeping: Several months.

Source: After Gaston Lenôtre.

Nutritional information

	Proteins (gr)	Carbohydrates (gr)	Fats (gr)	Energy value (in k-calories)	Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe	3 RDI=1 %	300 RDI=30 %	0	1,930 RDI=100 %	8,080 RDI: 100 %
Per 100 g	0	30 RDI=3 %	0	180 RDI=9 %	770 RDI: 9 %

The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man

How much will it cost?

For 500 ml : 6.75 €

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Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.

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The 4 comments already posted on this recipe

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.
Posted by Rob april 14^th 2012 at 19:26 n° 4
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!
Posted by jh april 4^th 2012 at 22:55 n° 3
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!
Posted by Jessica april 4^th 2012 at 19:21 n° 2
Thank you for this excellent Recipe - it tastes delicious!
Posted by Johannes july 27^th 2010 at 13:14 n° 1

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