I’ve refined two very different, delicious, and nutritious ways of preserving cassis. Today,

FRESH CURRANTS PRESERVED IN HONEY

Fill jars with the clean, dry fruit, to an inch from the top. Fill again with good local raw honey to cover.

Using a narrow utensil, gently shift things around so any air pockets are released, topping up the honey as needed. 

Cover and leave at room temp. Check and stir again in 4 to 8 hours, pressing fruit down below the honey and adding honey again if needed. The fruit should have started releasing some juice into the honey and shrinking to form a floating island. It will continue to contract if left at room temperature but it is time for a decision. Will it be dehydrated sweetened cassis (soft like raisins), or raw, preserved in honey in the fridge for fresh winter eating?

For the fresh, preserved in honey choice, that’s it, stir one last time after a total of 12 hours at room temperature, and refrigerate. I have kept some of this as long as five months in the fridge with no noticeable change. I don’t know how long it could keep, but between the honey — a prized preservative for millennia — the acidity of the fruit, and the help of a refrigerator or root cellar, it might be years; I don’t know, so keep an eye on it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laurie Goodhart and her husband co-founded and operated two certified organic artisanal goat fromageries, Nettle Meadow in Warrensburg, NY from 1990 to 2005 and Domaine De Courval in Waterville, Quebec from 2006 to 2017. She created and trademarked the multiple award-winning cheese, Kunik. For more about her how her life experience brought her to develop time-saving ways to eat as much nutrient-dense food from her local environment as possible, see this previous post

Goodhart lives in upstate NY and continues her work as a professional artist and avid home gardener. Since 2007 she has devoted most of her studio time to an extensive body of work collected under the concept, Remnants And Residents Of A Lost Sanctuary Of Aphrodite.

Laurie can be reached through her website, lauriegoodhart.net