Cherry Jam

With all the English soft fruit coming into season I couldn’t resist making some jam. 

You will see in the recipe I have added plum kernels to the jam this adds a lovely almond flavour which compliments the cherries perfectly. Don’t forget to count them in and count them out at the end of the cooking time. They are edible just not very pretty.

This jam is way too decadent to just be spread on some toast, so afternoon tea with the best china it was. Splendid!

Ingredients

700g cherries

560g jam sugar

½ lemon

6 plum kernels

Makes four 200g jars       

Method

Put some saucers in the fridge and get your jars sterilising.

Remove all the cherry stones and place the cherries into a preserving pan with 4 tbsp of water. To extract the plum kernels break open the stone with some nutcrackers and then remove the kernel from inside. Cover the kernels with boiling water and after about 2 minutes you should be able to rub off the brown skin. Add the white kernels to the pan and cook the cherry mixture gently for approximately 20 minutes until the cherries are nice and soft.

Add jam sugar and the juice from the half a lemon to the pan stirring constantly till sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to a rolling boil. I would expect it to take about 20 minutes of boiling to reach setting point but that is only a rough guide. Use the plate test to establish your preferred consistency. (See Hints & Tips).

Place in warm sterile jars. Should keep for up to a year.