Red Currant Sauce

I remember picking currants and gooseberries as a kid. They were really tart and tangy but somehow I liked them. Kind of like a sour candy, you eat them till your tongue hurts. I found some fresh bright red ones at a store and after I bought them I thought it was funny that I had just paid for something that I used to pick in my back yard. My back yard picking has now changed to black berries; they're not ripe yet.

I have to admit the tart and astringent berries sat in my fridge for a bit. They seemed a little high maintenance and I wasn't really into having them raw. Finally I decided to cook them up with a bit of honey for a sweet tart taste.

I had about 3 cups of berries after I picked them all off the stems, which you don't have to do very meticulously because I ended up straining it. That was an after thought when I discovered that I didn't want the crunchy and still astringent seeds in my sauce.

I put the currants into a medium sauce pan and added 5 big spoonfuls of local honey. I heated the mixture on low/medium and let it simmer lightly for about 15 minutes. Then I mashed the whole thing with a fork and squished it through a very fine sieve. Try to get all the juice and pulp out of the mixture leaving behind the skins, seeds and stems. Scrape all the pulp off from underneath the sieve and stir up the sauce. Now taste it and add more honey if it is still to tart. Store it in the fridge for several days.

I just had some on yogurt, see above photo. I think it would be really yummy on coconut milk ice cream...