My Cherry Amore

And its another beautiful Sunday here in Chicago, and the perfect day for the Farmer's Market! This morning, I headed down to Logan Square and perused the aisle of fresh breads, jams, and veggies! I love the summer months because the food is so abundant! All last week I had a craving for some home made jam but didn't really know which fruit to choose. I already had some blueberry preserves from Bonne Maman in my fridge, and its just not the right time for strawberries here in the Midwest. Then I spotted them! Glorious and bright red, shining in the sunlight and calling my name! Sour Cherries! These are so great because I love tart and sweet jams (my favorite is cranberry sauce in the winter...but you cannot find cranberries in the summer here!) so...I picked up two pounds of these babies with my heart set on making them into a jam today!

The brighter the better

It is my first attempt at making a jam, and I wasn't sure if I needed pectin. After researching a bit, you can actually make a tasty jam WITHOUT pectin by adding lemon juice and its zest to the mix! This naturally adds pectin to the cherries and allows it to congeal on its own. I was elated! This was pretty easy to make and took a total of 2 hours. Pitting the cherries took about 30 minutes though. You can cut the time in half and save yourself the pruney fingers by purchasing a cherry-pitter. 

• 2 pounds sour cherries (rinsed, pitted and chopped roughly..keep about a third whole though for some texture). This will yield about 2.5 cups of jam.
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• juice and zest of 1 large lemon

Place a glass plate in the freezer. You will use this to test whether your jam is ready

Add cherries to a deep sauce pan (non-reactive like enameled cast iron or stainless steel works best and use a wooden spoon). Cook until it begins to boil and bubble on low-medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes. The cherries should be soft and the juices should start to bubble. Add juice and zest of the lemon (you can substitute oranges or clementines too). Continue to cook until the cherries are very soft. Turn off heat.

Add sugar in batches of 1/4 cup and stir until it is dissolved. Then add the next batch. Continue to do so until all the sugar has been added and is dissolved into the cherries. Place back on low-medium heat and cook for approximately 5 minutes, stirring constantly! Once the juice starts to coat your spoon, turn off heat and place a small spoonful onto your plate that is in the freezer. Put back in freezer for about 3 minutes. When you take the plate out of the freezer, the juice should wrinkle..this will let you know that you it's ready. If it does not wrinkle, return mixture to heat and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Repeat this process until your jam is ready. DO NOT OVERCOOK as the you do not want the sugar to caramelize..this will make for a hard, sticky, and no good jam.

Pour into a sterilized jar, cover, and allow to cool at room temp. Place in refrigerator and cool over night (although I ate some 2 hours later!). Will last about 3-4 weeks. Smother your favorite breads, ice creams, yogurts or just plain oatmeal! It is delicious on everything!! Next time though, I want to add some cloves and currants to make a cherry chutney! I cannot wait!

Happy Eating

Kendra