If you’re ever stuck for recipe ideas when it comes to blackcurrants, you have come to the right place. Here you’ll find 37 creative blackcurrant recipes from a whole host of bloggers. They all involve chocolate in some way, shape or form.
Blackcurrants
Bad cop is back! We’ve had two easy and straightforward challenges from two wonderful guest hosts and I feel it’s time for something a bit more challenging. I have a hideously awful significant birthday this month, so if I have to suffer, I don’t see why the rest of you shouldn’t too. Actually, I did throw it open to discussion on Twitter – easy or challenging? The overwhelming response was to go for challenging. So here goes – it’s blackcurrants.
Whilst I was visiting my mother earlier this month, I noticed that the blackcurrants in her garden are nearly ready. The bushes are 45 years old and still going strong. So for me blackcurrants epitomise my birthday month, July. Surprisingly, since starting this blog, I have only posted one recipe and it was hardly an unqualified success – chocolate and blackcurrant roulade. So I thought it was time to raise the bar.
For those that don’t grow blackcurrants or know someone you can wrest some off, never fear, I’ve allowed blackcurrant jam, cassis, blackcurrant syrup, Ribena even.
We Should Cocoa
Well it looks as though I pulled off my bad cop persona well for this month’s We Should Cocoa as virtually everyone has been telling me that blackcurrants are a really challenging ingredient. Many have been unable to get hold of the fresh berries, some don’t like them and a few didn’t know what they were. Luckily the vast majority of sceptics were pleasantly surprised when they tried the blackcurrant and chocolate combination and have now been converted to its delights. Once again an amazing display of collective creativity and talent is abundantly displayed. Despite this somewhat difficult challenge, I’ve still received 37 entries, so a big well done to everyone.
If anyone is stumped as to what to do with blackcurrants in the future you now know where to come.
Janice of Farmersgirl Kitchen will be hosting next month, so be sure to check out her blog on the 1st August to see what challenge she’ll have for us.
37 Creative Blackcurrant Recipes with Chocolate
Chris of Cooking Around the World got things off to a flying start by tempting me with these very gooey blackcurrant caramel brownies made with blackcurrant jam. Not content with the calorific brownies alone, he served them with hazelnut semifreddo – oh boy!
Janice of Farmersgirl Kitchen followed next with one of my absolute favourites, a pavlova. A chocolate and berry pavlova to be precise. Now if there is one thing better than meringue, it is a chocolate meringue topped with summer berries and cream. And just look at that mouth watering layer of chocolate on which the cream and berries are sitting. Cleverly she used frozen berries.
Janine of Cake of the Week used this blackcurrant opportunity to try out the new sugar alternative Truvia. She made chocolate cupcakes with blackcurrant icing. The topping was a new one on me, faux French buttercream made with egg yolks and flavoured with blackcurrant jam.
Here’s some white chocolate and blackcurrant ice-cream looking fabulicious and professionally served in a cone with sprinkles and the whole works. Ren of Fabulicious Food reckons she may have found the perfect recipe with this one – an easy to make, no churn ice-cream. She was unable to find fresh berries so used frozen ones.
This amazing blackcurrant and chocolate cake was made by Rachel of Blissfully Scrumptious in honour of the first Dorset CCC meeting. If this cake is anything to go by, the name blissfully scrumptious is not an exaggeration – just look at the lovely stencilling on top. Adapted from a Peggy Porschen recipe, this was a chocolate cake with buttercream filling and topping using blackcurrant jam.
I was pleased to see my old childhood treat, Ribena, make an appearance in these blackcurrant glazed chocolate cakes. Angela of Garden, Tea, Cakes and Me used Ribena both in the cake batter and the glaze but suggested they would be rather good with cassis instead – now there’s a suggestion.
Having recently been introduced to friands (little almond cakes), I was thrilled to see these blackcurrant chocolate friands. Made by Linzi of Lancashire Food with her own freshly picked blackcurrants, this was an experiment which looks as though it worked well.
Jill of Lapin D’or and More took the humble Jammy Dodger and transformed it into something else entirely. A hazelnut biscuit sandwiched with layers of chocolate hazelnut praline and homemade blackcurrant jelly then drizzled with chocolate, these would look at home in any top patisserie and make a fine contribution to these 37 creative blackcurrant recipes.
Blackcurrant & White Chocolate Cookies
Biscuits were also my choice, although I did also make this blackcurrant rose and white chocolate ripple ice-cream. I really like the contrast of sweet white chocolate and tart juicy fresh blackcurrants and they worked really well in these blackcurrant and white chocolate cookies.
You can never have too many brownies in my book, which is just as well. These brownies from Galina of Chez Maxima have the added benefit of being gluten free. She used redcurrant jelly as a glaze and topped them with fresh blackcurrants.
Snowy of Cookbooks Galore selflessly participated in this month’s challenge despite her lack of enthusiasm for blackcurrants. The things we do for the love of a good man! This chocolate torte with a blackcurrant sauce sounds utterly scrumptious to me and contains fresh blackcurrants in the torte as well as the sauce.
Suelle of Mainly Baking opted to use white chocolate for her pairing with the blackcurrants. Inspired by US jam cakes, Suelle used blackcurrant jam to make this blackcurrant jam cake and topped it with a cheese and white chocolate topping.
Everyone loves a good Victoria Sponge, so it was good to see the appearance of these delightful mini Victoria sponges with black fruits and basil cream. Nazima of Working London Mummy used blackcurrant jam to sandwich the sponges together.
The queen of hearts she made some tarts all on a summers day and so did lovely Laura of How to Cook Good Food. Using a chocolate pastry recipe from Chantel Coady, these chocolate jam tarts were filled with blackcurrant jam. Served with a good dollop of whipped, or better still clotted cream on top, these sound heavenly.
Kit from I-Lost in Austen always wows me with both her stunning photography and creative recipes. This almond cream tart with violet & white chocolate cream frosting is no exception. Kit is another who is not a fan of blackcurrants, but these tarts using fresh blackcurrants won her over I think!
Kate of What Kate Baked, who has been working as a volunteer for the Olympics and is a great enthusiast, has been doing a series on Olympic baking. This, her fourth, is a tribute to athlete Jessica Ennis, one of our hoped for gold medalists. It uses blackcurrant jam – Jess Ennis chocolate and blackcurrant loaf cake.
Hooray, I was hoping some one would use creme de cassis and they have. Claire from Under the Blue Gum Tree, who always wows me with her creative bakes, happened to have an old bottle of this blackcurrant liqueur, which is just as well as fresh blackcurrants probably don’t even grow in South Africa, never mind in winter! Inspired by Spanish blogger Collette, these chocolate and cassis pear tarts look fabulous.
I’m very pleased to welcome Maria of Box of Stolen Socks to WSC as she has come up with a pudding which sounds delicious and is positively good for you. Her chocolate berry pudding not only contains frozen blackcurrants, but also avocado and raw cocoa powder. It’s also nice and simple to make.
Blackcurrant Macarons
Janine over at Cake of the Week was doing a tour of friends and family early in the month and made some blackcurrant macarons to take along with her. Filled with a ganache made from white chocolate and blackcurrant jam, I’m feeling rather sorry I wasn’t one of the lucky people being visited.
And for something else that’s completely different. This time it’s from Hannah of Corner Cottage Bakery who has given a savoury twist to this month’s theme with her duck breast with red wine blackcurrant and chocolate sauce using blackcurrant jam.
Another WSC newby, Mari of Nutty Tart has rocketed in with an absolute masterpiece. Using fresh blackcurrants, she has made this visually stunning three layered blackcurrant and chocolate mousse cake – it sounds rather tasty too!
Fellow Cornish Blogger the HungryHinny hunted high and low for fresh blackcurrants only to be told they were late coming into season this year. In the end she made a dark chocolate blackcurrant cake using blackcurrant jam. She bit into this very tentatively as she’d once had an allergic reaction to Ribena and hasn’t tasted blackcurrants since. Luckily all was well and the HungryHinney can now eat blackcurrants.
Blackcurrant cheesecake is a classic. These oh so pretty blackcurrant and white chocolate cupcake style cheesecakes take it to a whole new level. Using fresh blackcurrants and cassis, Fleur of Homemade by Fleur made these to look like cupcakes so she could fool her guests.
Another new entrant this month is Steph from Kokopeli’s Chocolate she has finally decided to enter after years of reading other people’s entries. With these blackcurrant triangles, she is more than welcome. Using fresh blackcurrants and cassis, blackcurrant and white chocolate ganache is topped off with blackcurrant compote and then enrobed in milk chocolate – wow!
Kir Macarons
Hooray for creme de cassis. Mel of Sharky Oven Gloves, currently residing in New Zealand where blackcurrants are very much out of season at the moment was able to resort to alcohol! Kir in fact, a mixture of white wine and cassis which she used to make these magnificent kir macarons.
Described by Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe as a cross between a brownie and a jammy dodger, I for one am not going to be able to resist making a batch of these most scrumptious sounding chocolate walnut thumbprint biscuits with blackcurrant jam. As already stated blackcurrant jam was the topping of choice, but the biscuits unusually contained walnut oil as well as ground walnuts – mmmm!
Mini bakes are “in” at the moment as has been witnessed by many of the entries this month. Helen of Fuss Free Flavours continues the trend with her mini chocolate and blackcurrant cakes. Using Ed’s blackcurrant & chilli jam (sounds gorgeous all by itself), to not only form part of the cake batter she also used it to sandwich and top the cakes along with buttercream.
Caroline of Cake, Crumbs and Cooking was chuffed to find that her rather neglected blackcurrant bush had actually produced some fruit this year. She wanted to bake a simple cake to show of her berries which she’s done to great effect in this rather delicious sounding white chocolate, blackcurrant and apricot cake.
This rich and indulgent torte like chocolate and blackcurrant cake comes from Jean of Baking in Franglais. Jean managed to buy a punnet of fresh blackcurrants on a visit to Cumber Park where they had been picked from the garden that morning.
More mini cakes, this time from Maggie of Kitchen Delights who produced these chocolate and blackcurrant cupcakes. Maggie used fresh blackcurrants in the cake batter and then frosted some for decoration where they look absolutely splendid.
And for something completely different again. Ros, The More Than Occasional Baker made chocolate marshmallows with blackcurrant jam filling. Ros wasn’t too happy with the result as she didn’t think they set properly and were more jelly than mallow. Luckily, she reports that they tasted delicious, which after all is the thing that really counts. I know I would have been very happy eating my way through them.
Vikki from Cake Fairy Blog was looking forward to using tart juicy, colourful blackcurrants, but was also unable to source them. She did, however, discover yogurt coated blackcurrants – at two o’clock in the morning! I didn’t know such things existed. With them she made some delicious chewy chocolate and yogurt coated blackcurrant cookies.
Lucy The KitchenMaid made a wonderful sounding Queen of puddings for We Should Cocoa, but was unable to take a photo. A jar of plum, blackcurrant and lime jam made by a friend, found its way into this old favourite – as well as chocolate of course. Luckily, she also made some no churn blackcurrant ice-cream for which she did have a photo. Of the three blackcurrant ice-creams, mine, Ren’s and Lucy’s, all are made with condensed milk, chocolate and blackcurrants, but all are quite different.
Missing her opportunity to get hold of the fresh blackcurrants sold locally, Susan of A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate resorted to blackcurrant preserve and made these scrumptious looking chocolate and blackcurrant thumbprint biscuits. I’m looking forward to seeing the chocolate and blackcurrant mousse she’d originally had planned.
Now if there is one thing better than brownies, it’s probably brownies on the beach. The magnificent Dom of Belleau Kitchen made blackcurrant beach brownies using fresh juicy blackcurrants for his mother’s birthday. Despite his worries about using salted butter, they turned out beautifully – of course.
Karen of Lavender and Lovage has such a way with words and always great pictures. The title of her bake alone makes me want to dive straight in. Using her own homegrown fresh blackcurrants, Karen has given us double chocolate and summer berries truffle slice.
I hope you’ve found at least one recipe that appeals to you in these 37 creative blackcurrant recipes with chocolate. I shall be adding them onto the We Should Cocoa board on Pinterest in due course, so do feel free to pin away when I’ve done so.
If, however, you’d rather go for a blackcurrant recipe that doesn’t contain chocolate, I have something that should do the trick. Head over to this post for all the blackcurrant recipes you’ll ever need.
rita cooks italian says
this round-up looks amazing! So many inspiring chocolate berries recipe!!
Kate@whatkatebaked says
What inspirational and unique ways of baking with blackberries, lots of great ideas!
Rachel says
A great round up of some lovely recipes – I’ve really enjoyed visiting some new blogs and finding lots of baking inspiration! X
Phil in the Kitchen says
An excellent set of recipes for a tricky combination of flavours.
hungryhinny says
I can’t believe all the creative ways everyone has managed to combine blackberries with chocolate – lots of inspiration for future blackberry treats now I’ve been converted!
Karen S Booth says
THANKS for adding my entry – I didn’t ask, as I know how frustrating it all is, BUT it is VERY nice of you! THANKS! ๐
Kit @ i-lostinausten says
This is truly an amazing round-up that I’m looking forward to try out some yummy recipes! FANTASTIC! ๐
laura@howtocookgoodfood says
So many wonderful ways with blackcurrants. I am tempted by so many of these delicious looking recipes and great to see the variety and creativity of all the entrants. Love this round-up Choclette! xx
Maria says
Great round up! What a diverse collection of blackcurrant recipes!!! Looking forward for the next!!! This a great group ๐ ๐
Laura loves cakes says
All these bakes look seriously good…they all look so tasty and particularly pretty this month!!! A great round up!!
Maggie says
Fab roundup and a great introduction to blogs I haven’t visited before.
Lancashire Food says
Love the round up and so enjoyed taking part
Dom at Belleau Kitchen says
Magnificent … me… oh you! xx
Cakefairyblog says
There all so colourful and varied. What a great round up. I want almoast everyone!
Karen S Booth says
OOOPS! I must be a person who forgot to email you, but I am sure I did, I know I tweeeted too….must check my outbox! A WONDERFUL round up however – with SUCH a diverse range of treats, JUST fabulous and I LOVED this month’s challenge! And if anyone is interested, I DID make a chocolate and blackcurrant entry and it’s here: Double Chocolate and Summer Berries Truffle Slice – http://www.lavenderandlovage.com/2012/07/cake-stall-baking-double-chocolate-and-summer-berries-truffle-slice.html
THANKS for a lovely theme! Karen
Jean says
What an inspired lot of entries !! I must admit I was sceptical about the combination of blackcurrants and chocolate and it’s amazing to see what lovely things people have come up with.
I shall be checking them all out, they look so delicious.
A Trifle Rushed says
Oh my goodness, what a fantastic selection, I’ll be looking at your pins and checking out all these wonderful recipes. It must have been quite a task to compile all those entrants.
corrie says
Now that I am subscribed to your blog…count me in to your next ‘we should cocoa’ challenge what ever it may be! Exciting ๐
Homemade by Fleur says
What an amazing round up. I’m so impressed with the variety as well. I thought there would be lots of similar things but not the case. Love the cake adapted from Peggy Porschen. A lot of hard work for you too. Well done for getting them all in a round up in time.
Chris says
Thank you for such a lovely roundup! So many lovely things!!!
Gloria says
All look amazing and delicious! I love this roundup!!
Baking Addict says
Wow I never knew there were so many delicious ways you could use chocolate and blackcurrant! Great round up as always. I’m way behind on my blog reading and can add most of these delicious treats to the list! Think I might have to take a few days off just to read everyone’s blogs ๐
Caroline says
Great round up – what a lot of different things to do with blackcurrants!!!
missflash says
What a wonderful line up of bakes using coco. I especially love Mari of Nutty tart and hungry hinny bakes – devine x
Janine says
Thanks Choclette, great roundup! I now have a lot more recipes to bookmark!
lapin d'or says
Fabulous selection, particularly keen to try the thumbprint cookies and your own white chocolate and blackcurrant cookies.
lapin d'or says
Fabulous selection, particularly keen to try the thumbprint cookies and your own white chocolate and blackcurrant cookies.
Janice says
Epic round up. So many different ways to use blackcurrants and chocolate, also some blogs I haven’t visited before, will have to put that right. Thanks for another great WSC
Working London Mummy Working London Mummy says
what a fabulous roundup! and some absolute stunners there to go visit
Dom at Belleau Kitchen says
fab round-up and, this is totally my fault, but could you put mine up there please? Blackcurrant beach brownie, I forgot to email it to you, I only tweeted it… sorry :0(