Like Sarah wrote about last week, it's cherry season. While she had a gadzillion sweet cherries, I have only a heck of a lot of sour cherries. The other day my friend Risa stopped by and dragged me off to her friend Sharon's house to help pick sour cherries. Thirty minutes and thirty mosquito bites later we took a break. I ended up with six quarts of the ripest and sweetest sour cherries I have ever seen. They were so sweet and tart that you could eat them as is, but I had plans for them. I got home and washed and weighed the cherries, ten and a half pounds. Sweet! And sour too!
I love sour cherries. In tarts and pies, marinated in vermouth and bourbon to use in my Manhattan cocktails, infused for months in white rum to make sour cherry liqueur, and in the depths of winter I like to reach into my pantry and grab a jar of sour cherry preserves to bring back the taste of summer. Now was the time to make sour cherry preserves to cheer me up next winter.
Recipe and photos after the jump.
Sour Cherry Preserves
3 pounds of pitted red sour cherries
6 cups of sugar
Juice of one fresh lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 package of powdered pectin
Put cherries and pectin in a large pot and bring to a boil, stirring gently and often.
Add sugar and bring back to a boil, stirring gently and often.
Bring to a rolling boil for one minute while stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and skim any foam if needed.
Stir gently for 3-4 minutes to distribute the fruit evenly.
Ladle into hot prepped canning jars leaving 1/4 of head space.
Wipe tops clean and put on the two piece lids.
Seal finger tight. Don't tighten too hard.
Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
Add sugar and bring back to a boil, stirring gently and often.
Bring to a rolling boil for one minute while stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and skim any foam if needed.
Stir gently for 3-4 minutes to distribute the fruit evenly.
Ladle into hot prepped canning jars leaving 1/4 of head space.
Wipe tops clean and put on the two piece lids.
Seal finger tight. Don't tighten too hard.
Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
Another shot of those juicy suckers on the tree.
Risa had a ton of old quart containers to make the picking and transporting easier. Here are the cherries back at my place.
All washed and ready to go.
The only thing is that all those cherries had to have the pits removed. One By One with a little cherry pitter, working as fast as I could and actually breaking a sweat, I finished in 75 minutes. Whoo-eee, what an annoying job that was.
Cherries brought to a boil with pectin, and then sugar added. The cherries will give off lots of juice as they heat.
Canning jars being sterilized in boiling water for ten minutes.
The preserves are finished, taken off the heat, and stirred for several minutes.
Jars and canning funnel all ready to go.
Jars filled and ready to be wiped clean and lids put on.
Sour cherry preserves after heat treating. All ready to go into the pantry.
Cherries brought to a boil with pectin, and then sugar added. The cherries will give off lots of juice as they heat.
Canning jars being sterilized in boiling water for ten minutes.
The preserves are finished, taken off the heat, and stirred for several minutes.
Jars and canning funnel all ready to go.
Jars filled and ready to be wiped clean and lids put on.
Sour cherry preserves after heat treating. All ready to go into the pantry.
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