This simple, soft set Cherry Jam is made with just 3 ingredients and no added pectin. It tastes out of this world good, no wonder it’s so popular!
Today I’m sharing my utterly delicious Cherry Jam recipe!
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! I mixed cherries with apple and due to the high pectin level of the apple the jam was ready a lot sooner than I’d allowed for so I ended up with concrete jam.
It was meant to be my entry into the local 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!
Can you use frozen cherries?
As with any jam recipe you could make this cherry conserve with frozen cherries. Just heat them up with the sugar to slowly thaw. Fresh cherries will give the best result but using pitted cherries from the freezer if often more practical.
I do hope you give this quick and easy Cherry Jam a go if you find yourself with a glut of cherries! Don’t forget to tag @fabfood4all on social media if you do!
More summer jam recipes you might like:
- Quick & Easy Raspberry Jam
- Watermelon Jam – 2 ways
- Simple Blueberry Jam
- Rhubarb & Strawberry Jam
- Rhubarb & Gin Jam
- One Punnet Strawberry Jam
- Easy Grape Jam
- Peach & Apricot Jam
- Summer Fruits Jam
- Spiced Blackberry Jam
- Morello Cherry & Raspberry Jam
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Cherry Jam
Ingredients
- 750 g cherries
- 500 g granulated sugar
- Juice of 1 lemon mine produced 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.
- Allow to cool, then store in a cool dark place (will keep for years but best eaten in first year). Store in fridge once open.
- Makes 1.5 standard jars (600 mls).
Notes
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.
Kath
Hi Camilla
Thank you for this recipe, I usually make a half batch.
The jam is great as is, but goes to another level with the addition of about a tablespoon of black spiced rum
Camilla
Ooh Kath, that does sound good:-) So glad you like the recipe!
Rochelle Stanford
I made this jam using 4 1/2 cups of ripe bing cherries (measured after pitting and cutting) from our century old bing cherry tree and 2 1/2 cups of sugar. I used two meyer lemon cubes, which I keep on hand. I followed the recipe as is but additionally used a thermometer to confirm it got to the set point. My jam turned out perfectly!
Camilla
Excellent Rochelle, it is such a lovely jam isn’t it:-)
Cherie
Hi camilla I managed to source fresh rhubarb,going to give the jam a go
Camilla
Excellent:-) I just harvested some of mine today:-)
Cherie Withers
Hi I made this jam last and I must say it’s so simple and delicious. Just wondering if you could make it with a little less sugar as my son found it a bit sweet for himself.
Going to try the rhubarb and gin jam next.
Now following you on Instagram
Camilla
Hi Cherie, you could perhaps shave off 50 grams but I couldn’t vouch for the keeping quality as I haven’t tested. As long as you keep it in the fridge it should be fine. I do try to use as little sugar as possible as the normal ratio of sugar to fruit is 1:1. So glad that you’re going to make my Rhubarb & Gin Jam too, it went down a storm at our Royal Wedding Street Party when Harry & Meghan got married:-) Thank you for following me on Instagram, getting followers on there is like finding hen’s teeth:-)
Cherie Withers
Hi I made this jam last and I must say it’s so simple and delicious. Just wondering if you could make it with a little less sugar as my son found it a bit sweet for himself.
Going to try the rhubarb and gin jam next.
Now following you on Instagram
Hi Camilla
Do you think it would be possible to use frozen rhubarb for the jam as its quite difficult to find fresh.
Camilla
Hi Cherie, you can make any jam with frozen fruit, it won’t be quite as good as using fresh fruit but still good. Just use it frozen, don’t thaw first.
Julian Lawley
Hi camilla
Just found large trays of fresh cherries in the supermarket beginning with T for £4 spent all night destining one tray lol
Will try jam recipe tomorrow
Thanks julian
Camilla
Excellent Julian, we’ve munched our way through a couple of those trays so far. Good luck with the jam making – one of my favourites:-)
Elia
Oh my gosh first attempt to make jam and I didn’t succeed. I ended up with toffee stuck in a glass jar.
I could not get my jam to set in the fridge so kept cooking it more and more then thought oh well this must be it. Put it in a jar let it cool and now it’s set not sure how to get it out.
Trying to boil the jar in a pot hoping it gets soft enough to get out otherwise I think I’ll just have to throw it out and try again another time.
Camilla
Hi Ella, sorry to hear your first attempt wasn’t successful. I think the clue to this is in the fact that you said you couldn’t get the jam to set in the fridge. It’s not meant to set but when you pass a finger through it rather than being watery it should be like a gel and you should notice a slight rucking up or crinkle as you pass your finger through the jam. This cherry jam is fairly soft set. Maybe a better jam for you to try would be my Once Punnet Strawberry Jam which is very quick to make and doesn’t require a big pan. https://www.fabfood4all.co.uk/quick-one-punnet-strawberry-jam/ It’s all about getting a feel for the right consistency.
Danni
My truck has always been a cooled spoon. Scoop a little jam on it and stick it in the fridge for a minute. If you tilt it and it doesn’t drip off, it’s ready.
Camilla
I’m assuming you have to put the spoon onto a plate so to my mind this is just making more washing up and without putting your finger through the jam you don’t know how firm the set is. Sometimes I want a soft set, other times a firmer one so looking at a spoon wouldn’t be my choice but if that’s yours then that’s great:-)
Jacqui
Looking forward to trying this recipe – can you use “sour cherries” [carmine, juliett, evans, etc.]
Camilla
I’ve only ever made this with sweet cherries as we can’t buy fresh sour cherries in the UK. You could try adding a little additional sugar but it might not be needed as everyone seems to taste sweet differently.
Lindsey
Can I use a jar of moreno cherries in liquid?
Camilla
Hi Lindsey, no you need fresh cherries for this recipe.
Christina
I had about 350g of cherries left over from Christmas Day and didn’t want them to go to waste so tried this recipe – obviously less than half – adjusted recipe and got one delicious jar and a little left over to put on toast tomorrow – can’t wait
Camilla
Awesome, so glad you like the recipe, it’s one of my favourites:-) Hopefully you’ll check out some of my other jam recipes in the summer:-)
Melanie Goody
Just made this for my mum, used a 600g bag of frozen cherries from Lidl and scaled down accordingly. It made one big jar and one small. Hopefully she’ll like it 😀
Camilla
Excellent, I haven’t tried it with frozen cherries yet but I think I have a bag of Lidl ones in the freezer too so might do the same:-)