Homemade Cherry Jam
In the old days, forty or fifty years back, they dried the cherries, soaked them and pickled them, and made jam of them…
– Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard.
A batch of cherries that we couldn’t possibly finish before they went bad + no other bakes planned for the weekend = cherry jam. I hate throwing away food and had just enough cherries to make a pretty little jar of this pure deliciousness. (And not so many that I was cursing my lack of a cherry pitter.)
High Heat, Quickly
As I’ve discovered to my chagrin when my jam hasn’t set in the past, getting the heat right is important. You can read all about pectin in my post about raspberry jam, but here I’m going to talk about heat. Once you add your sugar, you want to bring the jam to a boil quickly over high heat. Why? Because you’ll have a better chance of retaining the fruit’s flavor and color before the pectin breaks down. A wide pan helps speed evaporation, too. Thermoworks has a good blog entry explaining this.
Reality Bakes
I added the juice and zest of one lemon, which helps with both acidity and pectin. Leaving some of the cherries whole (after pitting), and cutting some of the others in bigger pieces makes for a prettier jam.
The frozen-saucer trick works really well. Stick a small plate in the freezer before you start making the jam. When you’re ready to test it for set, dribble a little bit on the plate and stick it back in the freezer for a few minutes. Take it out and push against it with your finger – if it wrinkles, it’s ready.
The Steps
- Put a small plate in the freezer.
- Pit and slice the cherries.
- Put cherries in a non-reactive, preferably wide pan and add two tablespoons of water.
- Add the zest and juice of one lemon.
- Heat over medium-low and let cherries soften, stirring occasionally.
- Add the sugar and bring to a roiling boil over high heat, stirring frequently.
- Once boiling, set a timer for 10 minutes (and keep stirring frequently). Remove from heat, dribble some on the cold dish, and stick back in the freezer for a few minutes. If jam doesn’t wrinkle, return the pan to heat for another 5 minutes and test again. Continue to do so until jam wrinkles.
Cherry Jam
Ingredients
- 4 cups sweet cherries, pitted
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
Instructions
- Place a small plate in the freezer to test the jam later.
- Chop about 3/4 of the pitted cherries in half or quarters and leave the remaining 1/4 whole.
- Place the cherries in a large non-reactive pan with 2 tablespoons of water. Add the lemon zest and juice and gently mash. Heat over medium low, stirring occasionally, until cherries are very soft, about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Stir in the sugar and heat over high heat, stirring frequently, including scraping the bottom and sides of the pan. Bring to a roiling boil for about 10 minutes, continuing to stir, until bubbles start to subside and mixture thickens.
- When mixture starts to gel and will coat the back of a spoon, remove from heat. Dribble some jam onto the frozen plate and return to the freezer for a couple of minutes. Remove the plate and gently push against the jam with your finger. If it wrinkles it’s ready. If it doesn’t wrinkle, return to heat for another 5 minutes and test again.
- Ladle jam into clean glass jam jars, cover and let cool at room temperature, then store in the refrigerator.
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