Darina Allen: Currants are an Irish summer highlight — here are my three favourite recipes

This is a berry nice way to start or finish the day

Darina Allen's Summer currant and berry fruit salad

Blackcurrants, whitecurrants, and redcurrants are everywhere. String after string of ripe currants dangling from the bushes in our currant and berry garden, pleading to be picked. We’ve had to cover the rows with netting to protect our precious crop from the flocks of birds who are just waiting to descend to polish them off.

We make hoops with black plastic pipes to support the netting, a simple structure, very effective, if not very glamorous.

All currants ripen gradually from the top down, could be black, red, or white currants on strings.

One can harvest by the bunch or strip them off by running your fingers from top to bottom, holding a bowl underneath to catch the berries.

Eat as many as you can while they are fresh, but all of these currants freeze brilliantly, and the best news is that they don’t need to be strung first. I discovered this quite by accident in the midst of the season a few years when we were super busy.

The fruit was ripe, but we simply couldn’t manage to find the time to string. So, we just popped them into freezer bags and decided we’d worry about stringing them in the winter.

To my astonishment and delight, I discovered when we shook the bags of frozen berries the strings all became detached — a welcome surprise.

In my experience, currants and berries freeze much better than strawberries and when defrosted are almost as good as fresh. So, if you don’t already grow currants and berry bushes, put a note in your diary to order some to plant in the autumn.

They are best grown in the ground in rich fertile soil, but a bush will thrive perfectly well outside in the largest pot you can find.

Every year, I look forward to hot poached black- currants with icy cold cream.

Just as the main course is finishing, pop the blackcurrants into the syrup (1 pint of water and 1 pint of sugar), bring to the boil and simmer until the fruit bursts, turn into a tureen, serve in little bowls with a jug of icy cold cream. A real flavour sensation.

The remainder of the compote will keep in the fridge for maybe two weeks, and I love to drizzle some over a bowl of natural yogurt at breakfast.

Alternatively, just purée or sieve out the pips in a nylon sieve and fold in softly whipped cream to taste to make a blackcurrant fool.

Serve with shortbread biscuits (two, four, six...) 2oz caster sugar, 4oz butter, 6oz plain white flour, 10 minutes in the oven at 180°C, gas mark 4.

Frosted red- and whitecurrants are also delicious to decorate wee buns, a sponge cake or a fruit bowl. Enjoy while they last.

Redcurrant or white currant jelly

recipe by:Darina Allen

Redcurrant jelly is a very delicious and versatile product to have in your larder.

Servings

3

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 900g redcurrants or white currants

• 790g granulated sugar

Method

1. Remove the strings from the redcurrants either by hand or with a fork. Put the redcurrants and sugar into a wide stainless steel saucepan and stir continuously until they come to the boil. Boil for exactly 8 minutes, stirring only if they appear to be sticking to the bottom. Skim carefully.

2. Turn into a nylon sieve and allow to drip through, do not push the pulp through or the jelly will be cloudy. You can stir in gently once or twice just to free the bottom of the sieve of pulp.

3. Pour the jelly into sterilised pots immediately. Redcurrants are very high in pectin so the jelly will begin to set just as soon as it begins to cool.

Redcurrant jelly has a myriad of uses. It can be used like a jam on bread or scones, or served as an accompaniment to roast lamb, bacon or ham. It is also good with some rough pâtés and game and is invaluable as a glaze for red fruit tarts. White currants are rarer and more difficult to source; they too make delicious jelly that we use in a similar way.

This recipe is a particular favourite of mine, not only because it's fast to make and results in delicious intensely flavoured jelly, but because one can use the leftover pulp to make a fruit tart, so one gets double value from the redcurrants. Unlike most other fruit jelly, no water is needed in this recipe.

We’ve used frozen fruits for this recipe also, stir over the heat until the sugar dissolves, proceeds as below. You can also use white currants, but these will be difficult to find unless you have your own bush. The white currant version is wonderful with cream cheese as a dessert or it makes for a perfect accompaniment to lamb, pork or venison.

Summer currant and berry fruit salad with sweet geranium leaves

recipe by:Darina Allen

Sweet geranium (Pelargonium Graveolens) and many other varieties of scented geraniums are ever present on our windowsills here at Ballymaloe.

Servings

8

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 110g raspberries

• 110g loganberries

• 110g redcurrants

• 110g blackcurrants

• 110g small strawberries

• 110g blueberries

• 110g fraises du bois or wild strawberries

• 110g blackberries

• Syrup

• 325g sugar

• 450ml water

• 6-8 large sweet geranium leaves

•  

Method

1. Put all the freshly picked berries into a white china or glass bowl. Put the sugar, water and sweet geranium leaves into a stainless steel saucepan and bring slowly to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

2. Boil for just 2 minutes. Cool for 4-5 minutes then pour the hot syrup over the fruit and allow to macerate for several hours.

3. Remove the geranium leaves. Serve chilled, with softly-whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream or alone.

4. Garnish with a few fresh sweet geranium leaves.

We use the delicious Sweet geranium leaves in all sorts of ways, occasionally we use the pretty purple flowers also to enliven and add magic to otherwise simple dishes. The crystallized leaves, all frosty and crinkly, are wonderful with fresh cream cheese and fat juicy blackberries.

Summer cake with frosted redcurrants and mint leaves

recipe by:Darina Allen

A super easy base cake which can be tweaked in a myriad of ways depending on the season.

Servings

8

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 175g soft butter

• 150g caster sugar

• 3 eggs, preferably free range

• 175g self-raising flour

• 1 tbsp milk (optional)

• Lemon icing

• 225g icing sugar

• 1 lemon, zest

• 2-4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

• To Decorate

• frosted redcurrants and fresh mint leaves

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

2. Put the soft butter, caster sugar, eggs and self-raising flour into the bowl of a food processor. Whizz for a few seconds to amalgamate - it should be a soft dropping consistency, add a little more milk if necessary. Turn into a lined baking tin, 1 x 20.5cm. Make a dip in the centre so it rises evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes approx. or until golden brown and well risen.

3. Cool in the tin for a few minutes, remove and cool on a wire rack.

4. To make the icing:

5. Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl. Add the finely grated lemon zest and enough lemon juice to make a softish icing.

6. Garnish with frosted redcurrants and fresh mint leaves or scatter on some chopped pistachio if desired. Serve on a pretty plate.

7. For the frosted redcurrants:

8. Whisk an egg white until barely beginning to froth. Dip a string of perfect redcurrants into the egg white, carefully shake off excess but make sure currants are evenly coated. Sprinkle with sieved caster sugar, allow to dry and crisp on a wire rack over a tray.

Seasonal Journal

Head Gardeners Annual Symposium (September 18)

This September will see the fourth annual symposium for head gardeners take place at Coollattin House in Co Wicklow. The symposium is a great opportunity for anyone in the role of professional gardener to meet and network with like-minded colleagues, in similar positions and enjoy a great day out.

The theme of the symposium is ‘Guardians of the Garden: Restoring Heritage, Securing the Future’. Bookings via Eventbrite shortly.

Tilled Earth Educational Project

The Tilled Earth Educational Project was recently launched near Achill in Co Mayo. Klaus and Joanna Laitenberger are offering a range of courses and experience in their beautiful edible gardens to encourage and support those who are keen to start to grow some of their own food and sell to their local community.

• For more information, see @klauslaitenberger on Instagram

Book of the Week: Who doesn’t love a toastie?

Yet another brilliant little book in the Blásta Books series Toasties by Sinéad Sheehy and Ann Ní Chíobháin. They’ve included some of their customer favourites from their Food Truck Cáis in Dingle. Lots of practical tips and advice on how to build the perfect cheese and charcuterie board.