This summer, we’ve been getting the biggest, plumpest, most delicious cherries at the local supermarkets, and they’re often on sale! I think the stores are using them this summer as their loss leader because I can usually buy them for $2.49 per pound on sale.
On Wednesday, while the painter was working upstairs, I decided to make cherry jam with the cherries that I had bought at the end of the preceding week. Cherry jam is one of Jeff’s favorite. Also, I had never made cherry jam before, so I thought it would be fun to try.
Cherry Jam Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 c. pitted fresh or frozen Bing cherries, roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
- 1/4 c. of water
- pinch of kosher salt
- 1 tsp. lemon juice (America’s Test Kitchen advised on their show a couple of years ago that bottled lemon juice works better than fresh!)
- 4 T. pectin, one at a time
- 1 tsp. almond extract (optional)
Directions
- Pit the cherries with a cherry pitter or cut them in half and remove the pit by hand
- Roughly chop the cherries and add to a medium saucepan. (I cut my cherries in half, and the pieces were a little too big.)
- Add the sugar and water. Cook till the sugar becomes clear.
- Add salt and lemon juice.
- Heat over medium heat till the cherries begin to soften and the sugar mixture turns clear.
- Add the almond extract, if you like.
- Add the pectin, one tablespoon at a time. Stir, and cook each T. of pectin for about 3 minutes before adding the next tablespoon.
- Continue cooking till the jam thickens. One way to tell if it’s done is to put a plate in the freezer. When the jam thickens or reaches 215-225 degrees via a candy thermometer, take the cold plate out of the freezer. Drop a tablespoon of jam on the plate, and run your finger through the jam. If the jams stays separated, it is most likely done.
- Add the jam to clean jars. Don’t put the tops on till the jam cools. Then place the top on and put in the refrigerator. Lasts about a month, if you don’t eat it immediately!
I didn’t have jars immediately at hand that were the same size, so I ended up with three jars of jam: small, medium and larger.
But if you had 8 oz. jars, I think you would get between 2 jars.
If you try this, let me know how it works out!
