Red Currant Jelly with Agar-Agar

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make red currant jelly with agar-agar? The texture comes out unusual — somewhere between a fruit gel and Turkish delight. You can use any berry; depending on its tartness, you'll need more or less sugar. You'll want enough red currants to yield 500 ml (about 2 cups) of juice.

2. Step 2:

   

   Depending on how juicy the berries are, that's 1 to 1.2 kg (about 2 1/4–2 1/2 lbs); this time 1 kg of red currants gave me the right amount of juice. Wash the berries and purée them in a blender, then push the purée through a sieve to get fragrant currant juice. Stir the agar-agar into the juice and let it sit for 30 minutes.

3. Step 3:

   

   Put the juice with the agar on the stove, bring to a boil, and add the sugar. At the amount given the dessert isn't very sweet, so if you like it sweeter you can use up to 400 g. Boil everything together for 5 minutes, then pour into molds.

4. Step 4:

   

   I usually use candy molds, muffin molds, or just a rectangular silicone mold. Let the liquid cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for 2 hours. To unmold more easily, pop it in the freezer for 20 minutes before serving.

5. Step 5:

   

   Turn the dessert out of the mold onto a plate and decorate as you like — you can roll it in fine sugar or shredded coconut.

6. Step 6:

   

   Your red currant agar-agar jelly is ready! See the video for a more detailed walkthrough. Enjoy!