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Cherry Jam

A easy recipe for no-pectin cherry jam that you can make to preserve the seasonal fresh cherries in a bottle and relish them over a few weeks. Do give this a try when the cherries are in season.
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Course condiments
Cuisine American

Ingredients
  

  • 700 grams cherries pitted fresh
  • 2 lemons
  • 1.5 cups sugar

Instructions
 

  • To pit (remove the stone) from a large quantity of cherries, you definitely need a cherry pitter, which makes the chore a little easier. But this process does take time. It took me roughly an hour to pit the cherries required for this jam recipe.
  • Keep 2 handfuls of cherries whole and chop the rest roughly. This can be done quicker in a food processor.
  • Place a heavy bottomed pan to heat. Add in the whole and chopped cherries.
  • Add the juice of two lemons. This adds a bit of sourness to the jam and also helps it set.
  • Bring this whole thing to a boil. If you're doing it on high heat, stand around the pot and keep stirring so the cherries don't burn. This will take around 15-20 minutes to cook down depending on the variety of cherries.
  • Next step is to add the sugar to the pot. Keep the heat on medium-high and keep stirring. Sugar will melt and start to bubble. Meanwhile put a small saucer in the freezer (to test if jam is set later on).
  • Let the cherry +sugar simmer for 10-12 minutes. Once you see that it stops bubbling and turns somewhat thick, coating the spatula, turn off the heat.
  • Remove the saucer from the freezer. Spoon a small bit of jam on the saucer. Put it back in the freezer for 3-4 minutes. Push it using your fingertip from one corner, and if the jam is set, it will wrinkle. If it doesn't then cook the jam for few more minutes and repeat the test.
  • Ladle this into a clean jar. Make sure it is dry and you can microwave the jar for 1 minute to ensure it is sterilised.
  • This makes roughly 450 grams of jam. Keep refrigerated and use within 2 months.