Ribena - fruit juice soft drinks.

Ever wondered where the tasty blackcurrants that go into Ribena squash are grown?

A handful of British blackcurrant growers produce the Ribena berries that go into our squash, at berry farms up and down the country. You can see which counties juicy Ribena berries are grown in on the map below.

(Click on image to enlarge.)

Now why not find out more about the juicy blackcurrants that go into Ribena squash!

Easy to make with children, this cheesecake is a deliciously indulgent dessert with a tangy Ribena twist!

You’ll need:

Base

150g digestive biscuits, finely crushed
60g butter, melted

Filling

20g (2 tablespoons) gelatine powder/granules. For a vegetarian alternative, replace gelatine with agar agar
250g cream cheese, soften at room temperature
75g caster sugar
250ml (1 cup) low fat plain yoghurt
75ml Ribena Blackcurrant, Ribena No Added Sugar Blackcurrant or Ribena Strawberry squash

Method

1.    Crush digestive biscuits and mix with melted butter in a bowl. Press the mixture onto the base of a 18-20cm round pan, lined around the sides with parchment paper (you can also use clear plastic).
2.    Leave to cool in the freezer for about an hour. This will be your cheesecake base.
3.    Sprinkle the gelatine/agar agar into a bowl of 100ml cold water and leave for ten minutes. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir. Once melted, set the bowl aside to cool to room temperature.
4.    Beat the sugar and cream cheese together then add the melted gelatine/agar agar, yoghurt and Ribena squash, beating all together until smooth.
5.    Spoon onto the chilled base and swirl with a knife or fork to get a marbled effect. You can also drizzle more Ribena and add blackcurrants/frozen berries to the top if you wish.
6.    Refrigerate for at least two hours.
7.    Enjoy!

Let us know how it turns out if you try this recipe, and we’d love to see any pictures of your Ribena recipe creations! You can share them on Twitter @ribenauk as Twitpics, or using the #ribena hashtag. You can also upload them to our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RibenaUK.

Thank you to blessedhomemaker.blogspot.com for the inspiration for this tasty recipe.

Everyone knows that Ribena Blackcurrant squash is made from delicious blackcurrants, but did you know that Ribena comes from the Latin name for blackcurrants, Ribes nigrum?

There are around 150 types of blackcurrant and most of the world’s cultivated blackcurrants are named after Scottish mountains, such as Ben More and Ben Hope. Special varieties that are grown by British Ribena blackcurrant growers are called Ben Starav, Ben Gairn and Ben Tirran, to name just a few.

In partnership with the Scottish Research Crop Institute (SCRI), two new varieties of blackcurrant have been specially bred to withstand the effects of climate change. These are called Ben Vane and Ben Klibreck and were harvested for the first time in 2007.

All of our blackcurrant varieties ripen between the first week of July and mid August when the harvest occurs, meaning that we’ve just come to the end of this year’s harvest and we can start preparing for next year’s crop.