by Bennett Kalafut

Created on: June 24, 2010

•• Cherry All-Fruit Jam, with no sugar or sweetener added ••

Dried sour cherries give this jam an unusually rich flavor; Pomona's Universal Pectin sets the jam without added sugar.

Sour cherries, such as those of the Morello or Montmorency varieties, have a strong, deep, and aromatic cherry flavor unmatched by sweet varieties. The best pies, jams, and confections are made with sour cherries;  fleshier, almost plum-like sweet cherries are better for eating out of hand. However, sour cherries are extremely delicate and difficult to ship. Away from cherry-growing regions they're nearly totally unavailable fresh and almost as difficult to find frozen or canned in water. However, dried sour cherries are increasingly easy to come by as a "gourmet item" at large supermarkets or for substantially less at Middle Eastern or Arab specialty grocers.

The following all-fruit recipe combines the fleshy juiciness of fresh sweet cherries with the rich flavor of dried sour cherries. 50% or more of a traditional fruit jam is white sugar, needed to set high-ester pectins such as those sold under the Ball brand. Even so-called "sugarless" traditional pectins contain added refined sugars as part of their mix. Using Pomona's Universal Pectin, a low-ester citrus pectin set with a calcium solution, allows this jam to be sweetened with apple juice concentrate without the need for refined sugar. It's sweet enough that neither honey nor sweetener are needed either, but pleasantly more tart and less sticky than most store-bought jams. Pomona's Universal Pectin is available at Whole Foods and many other natural or specialty food stores and can also be ordered over the Internet.

• Ingredients:

10 cups fresh sweet cherries
¾ cup dried pitted sour cherries
3 12-oz cans of frozen concentrated apple juice (unsweetened)
¾ cup lemon juice (for acidity)
2 tbsp plus 1 tsp Pomona's Universal Pectin
2 tbsp plus 1 tsp calcium phosphate solution, prepared according to pectin package directions.

• Directions:

Wash, stem and pit the fresh cherries, discarding any that have brown spots or mold. I use the Oxo cherry/olive pitter; this and many other options are available from kitchen-supply retailers or via the Internet. If you prefer a smooth, spreadable jam, chop the cherries in a food processor. If not, leave them whole.

Heat the apple juice concentrate and lemon juice to a simmer in a nonreactive pot of at least 4 quarts capacity. Sprinkle the pectin powder over the simmering liquid slowly, while stirring; stir until dissolved. If clumps form, use a whisk or an immersion blender to break them up.

Add the dried sour cherries and the sweet cherries, heating the mixture to a low boil. Cook until the fresh cherries are soft and the dried cherries have absorbed the cooking liquid and re-hydrated. Mash with a potato masher, stir, lower the heat to a simmer, and add the calcium phosphate solution. Jams prepared with Pomona's pectin do not "sheet" off of a spatula like traditional jams; the jam is ready to can when the cherries are soft and the liquid is of a visibly thick consistency.

Fill hot jars with hot jam and process in a boiling water bath according to current USDA guidelines. For half-pints, 10 minutes plus 1 additional minute per 1000 feet of altitude is a good rule of thumb. All-fruit jams should not be sealed with paraffin wax alone and must be either canned or frozen. Jam will set overnight.

Spread jam on toast, pancakes, or waffles, use as a pastry or cake filling, or heat and serve as an ice-cream topping.

Yield: 12 half-pints.

Learn more about this author, Bennett Kalafut.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.