Creme de Cassis
What to do with Black Currants? In Britain, they just tend to end up as Ribena. France created an altogether better solution – Creme de Cassis. France took its Black Currants from England and Holland centuries ago. Their best come from Burgundy, called “Noir de Bourgogne”. The woods and hills above the vines are full of them.
A few drops of Cassis
Formerly, Black Currants were popular in treating various ailments, from sore throats to gout. They certainly contain significant amounts of Vitamin C and anti-oxidants.
Then in 1841, a liqueur maker and distiller from Dijon produced the first Creme de Cassis liqueur. He had noticed how Parisian Bars made their rough wine more palatable by adding fruit.
Consequently, in France, most Cassis is widely used in this way to create Kir. It’s an apéritif that makes delicious summer drinking, ranking alongside Pastis in popularity. It’s also an ingredient used in many a nouvelle cuisine dish.
Kir was originally just known as blanc-cassis. At the end of the Second World War, it was made famous by Chanoine Felix Kir, who was the Mayor of Dijon and an ex-resistance leader. He served it to the likes of De Gaulle and Khrushchev, and afterwards, the drink was renamed Kir in his honour.
A few drops (say 10ml) of Cassis adds interest and vitality to an otherwise dull glass of white wine. Traditionally, Burgundy’s Aligoté is preferred, but virtually any supermarket plonk will do. The upmarket Kir Royale uses sparkling white wine to create a fizzy version (again, do use cheap fizz rather than Krug). Boring wine? Reach for the Cassis!
You could just go and buy Vedrenne Super Cassis from the likes of Waitrose. Made from Burgundian Black Currants, the world’s best Creme de Cassis is around £8.99 per 50cl bottle. Vedrenne is of fantastic quality, but as the constituents are only Black Currants, sugar and alcohol, why not make your own?
Make your own Cassis.
Black Currant bushes produce abundant fruit every July. Making Cassis is so easy even I can do it, but allow sufficient time: a couple of hours spread over 2-3 days.
My Cassis recipe is like the one in the excellent Jane Grigson’s Fruit Book, where she states it came from her Burgundian Great Aunt. It’s been well road-tested down the years.
Ingredients
1kg (2lb) Black Currants
1-litre red wine. Use something with fruit in a lighter flavour spectrum and without much tannin; cheap Valpolicella does the trick
1.5kg (3lb) granulated sugar
750ml cheap brandy, gin or vodka. I prefer vodka; it’s neutral. Brandy or Gin add their distinctive flavours and get in the way
Just keep these ratios according to how much fruit you have.
Method
Use the freshest Black Currants you can. Wash and rinse. De-stemming is optional. First, soak the Black Currants in the red wine in a bowl for 48 hours. Then feed this mixture into a liquidiser. Tip all the resultant mush into a large bowl lined with doubled-up muslin.
Now pull the muslin together and twist it so the liquid squeezes out into the bowl. You’ll need a little strength to press it through the muslin, but be gentle as too much force will extract too much pectin, which will make the final Cassis too gloopy. If necessary, sieve the liquid to remove any pips and stems.
Measure the liquid and put it into a preserving pan. A pressure cooker base is a good alternative, but ensure whatever pan you use doesn’t react with fruit acids.
To each litre of liquid, add 1kg of sugar. Stand over a low to medium heat and stir – the sugar will dissolve quickly.
Slowly bring up the heat so that the liquid is around 80° C, plus or minus 5°. You need to keep that temperature constant over the next two hours. On no account, let it boil!
During the next two hours:
1st hr: check the temperature and stir thoroughly every fifteen minutes;
2nd hr: check the temperature and stir thoroughly every thirty minutes.
After two hours, the liquid level will have reduced slightly, and it will now be slightly syrupy. Leave to cool; overnight is easiest.
When cool, you can add the vodka. In a bowl, add 1 part vodka to 3 parts Black Currant liquid. The easy way is to measure how much total liquid you have and divide the number by three to give the amount of vodka you need. The result will be around 15% abv in strength. Now it’s time to bottle it. Ex-wine bottles with screw caps are ideal.
This Cassis will keep well, a year or two easily. You can drink it after only two days, but the longer you leave it, the better it becomes.
More uses for Cassis
As well as Kir or Kir Royale, Cassis is remarkably versatile. Here are some other ideas for using Creme de Cassis:
- Cassis diluted with iced mineral water makes a great long drink;
- Add to cheap red wine instead of white wine – and create a Cardinal (also known as a Communard);
- Pour the Cassis over vanilla ice cream for a no-effort superb dessert, or add it to a bowl of summer fruits;
- Add small quantities of Cassis to hearty winter stews (yes, really!) or use as a base for a sauce with meats such as Duck.
Meanwhile, can you guess what I’m doing this week?
Like this? Then try Aperol Spritz.
Or, here’s how to make your own authentic Limoncello
If you still have berries left, then why not make a Summer Pudding?
Comments 37
Very timely Paul, as we have just run out of our French stock! Let’s hope I can pick blackcurrants before the birds get them.
Author
Soon time to get the netting out!
Never mind netting I have picked 700g today. Currently soaking in a nice Duoro red…
Author
You’re about 2 weeks ahead of me, c’est terroir!
Beat the birds to the currants this year – just finished bottling 2.5 litres. Thanks for the recipe Paul – now looking forward to tasting my first homemade Kir Royale!
Author
Thanks for reading and using it, Julie. Do let me know how it turns out!
Just waiting for mine to cool, then adding vodka tomorrow. It smells delicious so far!!!
Have just started my first batch.
Thanks for the recipe
Just picked 4 kilos of blackcurrants first time making Cassis if it turns out like the Rhubarb gin I will be very pleased
Was it not named after a canon?
Author
Hi Eithne, Kir was named after The Mayor of Dijon, Chanoine Kir. Chanoine in French means Canon in English, a religious term.
What happens if you let it boil?
Author
You risk getting a sticky jammy mess. The alcohol will also boil off and the sugar may even caramelise. In short, you won’t get good Cassis.
Just made this with this year’s allotment harvest; its fabulous! I am going to plant a couple more bushes I think.
Left my black currants a little longer than usual to ripen (we have so many that the birds can’t cope!) Have made 5 litres and it tastes delicious already , thanks Paul!
I have loads of black currants from the last 2 years harvest which are frozen. Do you think I could use this recipe with frozen blackcurrants once thawed?
Author
Should be fine Helen, it’s something I have done in the past. Make sure they are as dry as possible. P
Hi I have lots of frozen black currants to make my first batch of cassis – do I have to defrost them or can I put them straight into the wine? Many thanks
Author
I think it would be best to defrost separately, to ensure you don’t dilute the Cassis with any melting water. If you have a lot, maybe defrost a portion separately and see how much water there is. If there isn’t much, you could then add the rest without defrosting. Good luck, P.
Last years batch seems to have a bloom. Can it be rescued or just binned. 🙁
Author
Hi Alexandra, thanks for writing! Can you describe the bloom a little more as ideally the cassis alcohol content should prevent this? As should corking the bottle with only a small airspace. If it’s only on the surface or just one bottle I’d be tempted to remove it and try a small amount for flavour. If that’s ok I’d personally probably use it or maybe just cook with it. If the bloom is throughout the liquid or it smells/tastes bad then I would bin it. If it was an entire batch in multiple bottles then something in the creation process created the problem, maybe insufficient temperature in preparation and so I would bin it rather than risk it. It could be mould/yeast or maybe a fermentation if there are Bubbles in the liquid. Always err on the side of safety! Do let me know and good luck this year.
I’ll be making Cassis this week… blackcurrants just right. I love to use it in Fenelon. A measure on walnut liqueur, measure of cassis and topped up with a good red. One of my favourite drinks.
Author
Nice!
What happens if you let it boil? Mine accidentally boiled at first. Only for a moment
Author
Hi Elliot, when it boils, it drives off the aromatic components and also makes it a jammier and thicker consistency. In short, it reduces quality. Hope that helps, if only briefly then still see how it turns out.
We have an electric juicer, the sort that looks a bit like an electric jug kettle on steroids.
Can we use it to replace the liquidising and muslin-straining part of the process, do you think?
Many thanks for the idea and the great recipe.
John
Author
Thanks for the feedback! Does your juicer separate the solids? If so then yes. If not, you stil need the muslin to end up with a liquid that’s relatively clear. Hope that helps and enjoy your Cassis!
I’ve done this with raspberries as well and it’s a gorgeous alternative
Author
Congratulations on your crème de framboises!
A technical question ! – to maintain the 80c I plan to use a sous vide – my gas hob just does hotter and more hotter – using the sous vide will mean that there is no evaporation at all – will this compromise the end result as I would think the viscosity will be thinner than the resulting partial reduction at 80c. your thoughts appreciated
Author
Hi Patrick, a really interesting question! Unfortunately I have no experience of sous vide cooking. I’m sure that you will have to adjust the cooking time and temperature but can offer you no advice on that. I would expect that a lower temperature usually associated with sous-vide might not break down the cell walls of the fruit, so you would probably get less pectin, so the viscosity would be less. Sorry I can’t be more helpful.
Hello,
I’m trying this for the first time and was wondering what happens if you let the berries soak for more that 48 hours? Will it become more bitter or cause any undesired issues?
Thanks and I’m really looking forward to tasting this.
Author
Hi Greg, an interesting question. I don’t think the timing is too worrisome as I imagine after 48 hours there’s not much more left to extract from the berries, so a little bit longer won’t hurt. However, I think the main issue would be that you increase the risk of oxidation or the mix turning to vinegar from airborne acetobacter. Both of those will certainly spoil the taste! Enjoy your cassis!
Thank you for the quick reply Paul. My mix ended up sitting for 8 hours longer but it had a pot lid on so hopefully that will help reduce any extra oxidation. I tasted the mix after straining and it didn’t seem vinegary. so I think I’ll be ok. I’m currently in the reduction phase. I’ll let you how it turns out once finished.
Author
sounds good, fingers crossed!
Hi Paul
How do you sterilise your wine bottles before you add the Cassis.
Looking forward to trying this, used 1 kg of my allotment black currants.
Thanks very much
Karen
Author
Hi Karen, sterilising is an important step and you have a number of options if you use glass bottles like old wine bottles, which are ideal. Wash and rinse them first, then choose an option that suits you. One is to use Campden tablets, which adds sulphites, easily found in brewers shops. My preference is not to use those, so sometimes I just immerse the bottle in boiling water in a pan for 5 minutes and air dry. Alternatively, microwave the bottle using steam; (ensuring no remnants of screwcaps are attached to the bottle), – fill the bottle halfway with cold water then microwave on high for 2 minutes. You could also do this in the oven on a shelf at 140 deg C for 15 minutes, which might be more practical for taller or multiple bottles. If you have a dishwasher with a sanitise setting you could use that, good for multiple bottles. Don’t dry bottles after sterilising with a tea towel, chances are that could reintroduce bacteria. And let the bottles cool if your liquid is cold, avoids any bottles cracking. Hope that helps!