Sweet Cherry Jam with Pits for Winter. 2 Ways
Sweet cherry jam is a reminder of summer in the dead of winter. The first method is quick and delicious — just 30 to 40 minutes! But I decided to put myself through the wringer and made the cherries the long, slow way. It takes a while, but it's worth it. So good! All told, the slow method takes the whole day if you start early in the morning. That said, the actual cooking still only adds up to about 40 minutes — everything else is cooling and steeping.
Cooking method
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Step 1:
How do you make sweet cherry jam? Gather your ingredients. To make sweet cherry jam with pits for the winter, you'll need: ripe sweet cherries, sugar, a little water, and citric acid.
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Step 2:
Pick over the cherries, removing stems, leaves, and any rotten or damaged berries. Wash and dry the rest. Tip the berries into a stainless steel pot or an aluminum basin.
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Step 3:
Cover the cherries with sugar, pour in the water, and add the citric acid. Stir everything together.
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Step 4:
Set the pot over low heat. Stirring the berries, bring the liquid to a boil. Boil for 5 to 6 minutes.
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Step 5:
Take the pot off the heat, cover it with a lid, and let it steep for 6 to 8 hours. After that time, return the jam to the stove. Bring it back to a boil over low heat. Boil for 5 to 6 minutes, then remove from the heat. Steep again under the lid for another 6 to 8 hours.
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Step 6:
Bring the jam to a boil one more time.
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Step 7:
Ladle the hot cherry jam into jars you've sterilized in advance. Seal with the lids.
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Step 8:
Turn the jars upside down and cover them with a towel. Let them cool to room temperature. You can store the jam in the refrigerator or in a dark, closed cupboard at room temperature.
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Step 9:
Open a jar of jam in winter and savor its aroma and flavor. This jam is wonderful with pancakes, syrniki, and all sorts of grain or cottage cheese casseroles. Enjoy!
- The quick method. You can also make this cherry jam faster: boil the berries in a single batch for 40 minutes over low heat, and the jam is done. Just as tasty! You can use the same recipe for pitted cherries. Jam is usually made with a 1:1 ratio of berries to sugar — that is, 1 kg of sugar for every 1 kg of cherries. But I felt that would be too sweet, even cloying, especially since cherries are already a fairly sweet berry. So I found a recipe that calls for less sugar. As a result, the syrup comes out fairly thin. Choose how much sugar suits your taste — either my amount or a 1:1 ratio. Sweet cherries also make a very tasty compote, which I've made several years running. Check out the compote recipe here.
Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish
- Granulated sugar - 398 kcal/100g
- Sugar - 398 kcal/100g
- Sweet cherries - 50 kcal/100g
- Citric acid - 0 kcal/100g
- Water - 0 kcal/100g
