Black Currants (Frozen) at Marketplace on Oakton

I am a big fan of the English dessert, summer pudding. For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure, it is basically a mess of berries, lightly sugared and warmed and magically compacted on top of a thin layer of bread in a half-spherical bowl. The dessert is then unmolded into a beautiful mound of early summer delight. Generally, it is served with Devon cream, but whipped Mascarpone or creme fraiche or whipped cream work well, too. I hope I have tempted a few of you to try this. If so, one of the berries you will need is black currants. They are hard to find even at the farmers' markets in mid-July, so I usually substitute up to half a jar of cassis (black currant) jam. Yesterday, however, I found some frozen black currants at Marketplace on Oakton in Skokie. As I was thanking the manager, a couple of eagle-eyed shoppers noticed the "find" in my hands and asked where to get the currants in the store. Better get out there fast if you want some! (Or call ahead.)

P. S. Marketplace also carries fresh red and white currants in season.

Teresa, whose stand is next to Henry's at the Evanston Farmer's market, often has them, and since they are so far south, her stuff is often here earlier than the official "season" seems to be (she also finishes the season a bit earlier too

Teresa, whose stand is next to Henry's at the Evanston Farmer's market, often has them, and since they are so far south, her stuff is often here earlier than the official "season" seems to be (she also finishes the season a bit earlier too Smile

She had red currants last Saturday. And very, very tasty strawberries.

The Food Museum blog just had a post recently that included, among other things, a note that the black currant was staging a comeback. Here's the item from the Food Museum blog:

"The Currant Company in upstate New York is bringing back the black currant, an extraordinarily healthy fruit that once was a major crop in the Hudson River Valley. Long valued by Europeans, currants are the latest fruit touted as effective in warding off Alzheimer's."

So it may become increasingly easier to find your black currants.

I love summer pudding, too. I wish more restaurants would serve fruit desserts like that instead of the ubiquitous oozing chocolate thing.

Josephine, would you care to share your recipe?

Thanks for the inspiration, Josephine. I went to a party tonight and had offered to bring something, but was at a loss until I saw your post. I found about 6 different recipes for summer pudding and cobbled together my own version -- and it was a sensation. The perfect thing to take to a summer party. Yum.

Sorry for the tardy reply. This is more a set of guidelines than a recipe.
You will need the following:

a half-spherical bowl (one of those cheap stainless nesting mixing bowls works well). Also, this is a very flavorful dessert and a small portion is adequate, so don't pick a very large bowl.

a variety of berries, amounts determined by the size of the bowl and the price (regrettably) of the berries. I use strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, a few blueberries, and red and black currants. Gooseberries might be good as well. Wash and drain well. Note: I have found that the best puddings have the highest proportion of black currants or jam and blackcurrants. Cherries and other fruits with skins, (including some blueberries) do not work well.

sugar, to taste, about 1/2 cup to every 4 cups of berries -- I often use much less if the berries are sweet or if I use a large amount of jam.

butter, softened

dense white bread such as Pepperidge farm (Wonder bread type bread will not work), crusts removed.

black currant jam-- about 1/3 cup for every 4 cups of fruit

Butter the bowl very lightly. Artfully line the inside of the bowl with the bread. Set aside. Over medium heat, stir the sugar and about 3T. water until sugar begins to dissolve. Add the optional blackcurrant jam (You may choose not to use it if you have fresh or frozen blackcurrants.)
Stir until jam is melted, then remove from heat and pause a bit. Add all the fruit and cook, stirring minimally, over medium heat just until fruit begins to give up a bit of juice. Allow mixture to cool a few minutes, then pour carefully into the bread-lined mold. It may seem too wet, but somehow, it tends to work out. Top the berry mixture with a layer of bread. Find a plate to fit the circumference of the rim of the bowl, and set it atop the fruit mixture. Set another plate under the bowl and stabilize the bowl if neccessary (this depends on how busy your refrigerator is.) Cover bowl and plate with plastic wrap to keep other flavors out of the delicate fruit dish. Weigh down the top plate with a couple of large cans. Leave overnight in refrigerator. Unmold onto serving plate. A warm towel may help, or a knife may be neccessary to loosen. Repair divots in top of pudding if neccessary. Serve with one of the following: Devon cream, whipped mascarpone, creme fraiche, a mixture of sour cream and whipped cream, ricotta with lemon zest, whole milk yoghurt, or whipped cream.
Enjoy.

Thanks, Josephine! The proportion of fruit to sugar to jam is very helpful.

We'll have red currants and raspberries in the garden soon.

LAZ-- You're very welcome. But let me reiterate that the sugar/jam/fruit ratios are very much a matter of taste and depend on the sweetness of the fruit as well. I have been known to use an entire jar of blackcurrant jam in a pudding, and no sugar at all. This seems a very forgiving dessert. And if it were to fail, who'd be the wiser? What's not to like about a mess of berries and cream?

One more thought: with an eye toward improving industrial strawberries, I have occasionally added a small amount of rosewater, mixed with a couple of tablespoons of melted strawberry jam. This was a good call. However, adding creme de cassis did nothing for the dessert.

I would encourage others to experiment with different fruits. Right now I am working on a tropical version with passion fruit in place of blackcurrants.

you might enjoy adding giant blackberries from the andes to your summer pudding(among other things.) i first had them in fantastic 'homemade' popsicles at the ecuadorian grocery store, el condor on milwaukee ave. cermak produce stores have them in the freezer in plastic bags. they are black and, to me, taste halfway between blackberries and raspberries. justjoan

Great idea, justjoan. I saw some of those berries at LaUnica recently. Also at Cermak Market.

speakiing of passion fruit....it's one of my favorite flavors. cermak produce(and other latino groceries) is a great place to find frozen passion fruit puree, really cheap and with no added sugar. maybe you could work that into a summer pudding. it does need sugar as it's very tart. but it might work turned into a curd, maybe instead of the optional jam. i substitute it often for other fruits. justjoan

I did a "red, white, and blue" version for the holiday. The berries were strawberries, red raspberries, and blueberries. (About 1 lb., 8 oz., 12 oz., respectively; 1/2 cup sugar, noo jam.) The blueberries stay quite distinct, which in this case, was perfect. Once sliced, with a drizzle of slightly whipped (and very white) cream across the red and blue, and it looked very patriotic indeed.

I will say that I think the passionfruit idea sounds nice, too.

Sounds nice, Cynthia. Anyone interested in fresh black currants or red or white ones for that matter, is likely to find them right about now. The Dutchess of Birmingham purchased some at the Evanston Farmers Market this morning for $8 a pint. She also bought a gallon bucket of red sour cherries (pitted) for $20.

I haven't seen black currants there, but I did find red currants at Caputo's on Rand at Hicks in Palatine this week -- $3.98 a pint. They weren't sure what they were, so they priced them the same as sour cherries -- which they also had. They're tart, but they are lovely, jewel-like things.

Yup, saw the currants, both white and red, at Lloyd Nichol's place, but skipped them in favor of the aforementioned pitted sour Michigan cherries at Stover's, just across the way. They freeze well, I hear tell, so I'm making jam tomorrow, and putting by the rest for pies and such later. Great flavor - the cherries are as good this year as the Michigan apricots were last year.

Also, I noted with glee the very first Michigan peaches of the season today. Can the nectarines be far behind?

Nichols Farm had black currents today at Daley Plaza, for I believe $4 a pint, but I could be totally wrong on the price.

Marketplace on Oakton no longer carries frozen black currants, and I'd like to find some. Does anyone have a source?
Thanks.