Cherry Jam
Ever since I made my first jar of jam a few years ago I became hooked on jam making and have gone on to win a couple of 1st prizes at our local parish show. So every summer I look forward to gluts of fruit that seem to come my way. Sometimes it’s from family and other times it’s a bargain find in the supermarket! So the other day I came across trays of cherries for £4 whilst out shopping which I’ve never seen before. They’re usually £2 for a tiny punnet full. I snapped up a tray and knew that they were destined to be Cherry Jam (oh and we had a few for dessert)!
I’ve only ever had one attempt at cherry jam before which ended in disaster (my one and only) as I mixed it with apple and due to the high pectin level of the apple the jam was ready a lot sooner than I’d allowed for and I ended up with concrete jam. It was meant to be my entry into the Parish Show as I thought something a bit different would stand more of a chance of winning. So I ended up entering a spare jar of my One Punnet Strawberry Jam which went on to win 1st prize so it all ended well!
Well back to the Cherry Jam, I don’t believe in using jam sugar as I find it’s too easy to end up with a really stiff jam and I do like a soft set so I always use lemon juice (plus the rind sometimes) when extra pectin is needed. I’m pleased to say my Cherry Jam turned out perfectly, not too stiff and not too runny, just a really good soft set with lots of delicious chunks of cherry. My family all agreed and hubby was very pleased as Cherry Jam is his absolute favourite. I think I’ll have to see if there are any more trays of these cheap cherries as I can see this batch won’t last long! This recipe can easily be scaled up which is why I measured out the lemon juice. I do hope you give this quick and easy Cherry Jam a go if you come across a glut of cherries this summer!
For more cherry jam inspiration you might like:
Morello Cherry & Raspberry Jam – The Veg Space
As my Cherry Jam was made with cheap cherries I am entering it into Credit Crunch Munch which I run with Fuss Free Flavours and currently hosted by Lovely Appetite. I’m also entering Simple and in Season over at Feeding Boys as cherries are very much in season right now!
Why not pin for later?
Cherry Jam
Ingredients
- 750 g cherries
- 500 g granulated sugar
- Juice of 1 lemon mine rendered a little over 3 tbsp
Instructions
Wash and pit all the cherries and cut three quarters of them in half, leaving the other quarter whole.
- Put in a preserving pan (or large deep pan) along with the lemon juice and set over a low heat.
- Use a potato masher to lightly crush the cherries and simmer gently until cooked (about 7 minutes).
- Add the sugar and heat through on very low until all the sugar has dissolved (running a wooden spoon around the pan will help you know as the sugar will scratch if still solid).
- Bring to a rolling boil and time for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and drizzle a few drops of jam onto a chilled saucer.
- Place saucer into fridge for a minute and then run your finger through the jam, it's ready if it forms a crinkle and is tacky.
- If not quite ready boil for another couple of minutes at a time and re-test.
- Once ready ladle into hot jars and place lids on immediately. If using wax discs and cellophane, lay on the wax discs, wait until cool and then top with cellophane and rubber bands.
- Makes 1.5 standard jars (600 mls).
Recipe Notes
Put 2 saucers in the freezer before you start.
Sterilise 1 x 500 ml and 1 x 250 ml jars or 3 x 250 ml jar by washing in hot soapy water or take straight from dishwasher, filling with boiling water, emptying and then placing in oven for 20 minutes at 140°C then leave in oven until jam is ready. Washed lids should be sterilised with boiling water and then left to drain.
I did a trial of this jam but it was a bit to sweet for me, so when I made up my next batch I put in less sugar and used some pectin to help it set
And it was Perfect so so good!!
Love it 🙂
Fabulous:-)
Can you use less sugar? We find with the sweet cherries we have right now that it is terribly sweet. We haven’t had much luck with our cherry jam first lot set like cement second lot we burnt to the bottom of the pan. Tip don’t make jam late at night!
The only time I had cherry jam set like concrete was when I added apples which have a huge amount of pectin in them. This recipe wouldn’t set like concrete unless you didn’t follow the instructions and boiled it for too long? Yes I’ve burned jam and never did it again, the trick is to keep stirring with a long wooden spoon, you can’t over stir! You could try putting a little less sugar in but it might affect the setting and as I haven’t tried this I couldn’t vouch for the result.
You make no mention of water in the recipe. Surely you need water?
Many jams don’t need water and this is one of them. As the fruit cooks it releases it’s juices which are enough for an incredible jam:-)
I won first prize with this Jam at my local Agricultural show at the beginning of this month. I must admit I used jam sugar as I didn’t have any granulated. Judges comments “Soft set but excellent flavour” it scored 18 out of 20. ’I’m happy with that and will definitely make it again
So pleased for you Suzie although I am surprised that the jam sugar gave you a soft set as the one and only time I used it my jam was quite stiff so it put me off ever using again.
Great simple recipe. We used a prairie cherry that was developed by the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon Canada.
Absolutely wonderful. Thanks for the great recipe.
How lovely, so glad you like the recipe:-)
I made this a few days ago, it’s absolutely yummy, turned out perfect! Thank you Camilla
Thank you Gulten, so pleased you like it, it is one of my favourites:-)
Like Hae, I too found this jam extremely runny. I wouldn’t call mine a soft set, I’d call it a no set! I followed your instructions carefully, weighed and measured the ingredients properly etc. I ended up boiling the jam for over an hour and it still wasn’t set, so I dug out my sugar thermometer, stuck it in and boiled until it reached the ‘jam’ level. Still not set. So I’ve been out and bought some pectin and I shall reboil it all today with some of that thrown in.
Hi Theresa, if it was the consistency of a compote ie watery and runny then that is not correct but if it was like it is in the pictures and could hold itself together on a scone etc without running off then that is how it should be. It does not set like jelly, it’s more like a French Bon Mamman jam, soft in consistency, perhaps set is the wrong word and therefore your expectation is different from what this recipe produces. Difficult to know without seeing it but it definitely shouldn’t need boiling for an hour.
Compote is the perfect way to describe my results – when I reboiled it with pectin, it literally poured from the jars into the pan like a liquid, lol! It’s perfect now with the pectin added, what I call a perfect set, not too sticky..
Difficult trying to solve this without being there with you but perhaps more lemon juice would have done the trick. I note a reader on pinterest said she added more for a firmer set. Others have not reported any issues and were happy with this jam. It is my most popular jam. Glad you got is sorted now.