We drink a lot of juice and cordial, especially when we've been working hard on our workdays. Blackcurrant cordial (or homemade ribena) is always a favourite. This is a recipe adapted from Darina Allens Ballymaloe cookery course, we found a few more blackcurrants and a bit of citric acid added more flavour and bite.
2kg blackcurrants
2.6kg sugar
4 litres water
225ml white wine vinegar
100g citric acid
Boil the blackcurrants and water together in a stainless steel pan for 15 minutes.
Strain and add the sugar to the liquid.
Add the white wine vinegar and citric acid.
Boil for 3 minutes.
Pour in to sterilised bottles, the lids should seal if put on whilst the juice is still hot. If the lids are sealed, the juice will keep for a year. If you don't have glass bottles that will seal, you can freeze in plastic bottles, just wait for the juice to cool or the bottles will melt (yes, we've done it!). And don't fill the bottle right up, leave a gap to allow for expansion when frozen or else the bottle may crack.
