Melanie Johnson shares a recipe to make the most of redcurrants, a sharp but tasty seasonal fruit.
‘Sharp and tart redcurrants are like little summer jewels,’ says our kitchen garden cook, Melanie Johnson.
That edge makes them ideal for salads, Melanie adds, suggesting that you mix some in with some steamed green beans, thinly sliced red onion, chopped hazelnuts and crumbled feta, topped with honey mustard salad dressing and served alongside a barbecue.
They’re also ideal for topping a cheesecake — but to make them as portable as possible, this redcurrant tray bake, cut into portions, is perfect.
Recipe: Redcurrant crumble bars
Ingredients
For the redcurrant filling
- 300g redcurrants (or use a mixture of summer berries, such as raspberries, blackberries, blueberries) removed from the stems
- 2tbspn cornflour
- 50g caster sugar
For the base and crumble
- 175g unsalted butter, soft
- 1 egg yolk
- 150g soft light brown sugar
- 150g rolled oats
- 200g plain flour
- ½tspn baking powder
Method
Preheat your oven to 160°C fan/180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and line a tin—about 20cm by 20cm (8in by 8in)—with greaseproof paper.
Combine the redcurrants, cornflour and sugar in a bowl and set aside.
Add the softened butter, egg yolk, sugar, oats, flour and baking powder to a large bowl. Use your fingertips to rub them together until you have large crumbs and the mixture stays together when pressed. Add a third of the mixture to the prepared tin and use the back of a spoon to press it down into an even layer. Bake for 15 minutes.
Next, pour the fruit onto the base and scatter with the remaining crumble mixture. Bake for 30 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Cool in the tin and then cut into bars. Enjoy with whipped cream as a pudding or simply tuck into a bar with a cup of tea.
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