Blackcurrant Kissel

Steps

1. Bring the blackcurrants and the sugar to a simmer in one litre of water and cook five minutes, crushing some of the berries against the side of the pot.

   6 min

2. Stir the cornstarch into 100 ml of cold water until there is no grain left. Cold water only — starch tipped into anything hot seizes into lumps that never come out.

   2 min

3. Drop the heat so the pot barely moves and pour the starch in as a thin stream, stirring the whole time. It thickens within a minute.

   2 min

4. Take it off the heat as soon as it coats the spoon and squeeze the lemon in. Boiling it after this point breaks the starch down and it thins again.

   1 min

Serving suggestion

Warm in a mug, or cold in a bowl with a little cold milk poured over the top and left to swirl.

Storage

Three days in the fridge. It sets firmer when cold; stir in a splash of water to loosen it.

Notes

Two tablespoons of starch give a drink, four give a dessert you eat with a spoon. The berries stay in and are eaten; straining it clear would throw most of the food away.