Top 10 homemade cherry jam recipes, with and without pits, for the winter

Jam, preserves, and marmalades are a delicious sweet addition to desserts, baked goods, or breakfast. Store-bought products often lack natural ingredients, so resourceful home cooks prefer to make these sweet treats at home. Jam can be made not only from apples or pears, but also from cherries. The preparation instructions, as well as several healthy recipes, are below.

Features of making cherry jam

Essentially, this dessert is a highly condensed puree of fruit or berry pulp. Unlike other desserts, povidlo is unique in that its consistency is somewhere between jam and preserves. Therefore, it is often used as a filling for pancakes, pies, tarts, and other baked goods.

There are several useful recommendations for those who want to make delicious jam:

1. If you don't want to add gelatin to the product, but want to make it thicker, you need to add a small amount of apple or apricot pulp to the cherry puree.
2. A meat grinder is often used to puree berries, but if you use a blender or mash the cherries with a fork to make a puree, you'll end up with chunks of pulp in the dessert. This will give the dish a more vibrant flavor.
3. To prevent mold from forming during storage of the dessert, the sugar content of the jam should be at least 60%.
4. To prevent the product from spoiling during the winter cold and to ensure it lasts until spring, the jars with the sweet filling are placed in an oven preheated to 70 degrees Celsius (160 degrees Fahrenheit). As soon as a thin film forms on the surface, remove the jars.

How to choose the right fruits

To ensure delicious cherry cherries, you first need to select and prepare the harvest. When choosing, look for ripe, juicy, and plump berries.

Do not use overripe, wrinkled, or spoiled cherries. This will shorten the shelf life of the jam.

The prepared ingredients are placed in cool water, sorted, and washed. Then, the pits must be removed using special tools or a simple pin.

How to make cherry jam at home

The finished product has a dark red color, a slightly tart flavor, and a pleasant aroma. Making this delicacy at home is easy; the recipe is quite simple. Moreover, there are several methods for making jam, so everyone can find their favorite.

A simple recipe for the winter

This option is suitable for those who want a dessert that's not too sweet, as citric acid is added during preparation. For 3 liters of jam, you'll need:

1. Ripe cherries – 4-5 kilograms.
2. Granulated sugar – three kilograms.
3. Water – one liter.
4. Citric acid - one level teaspoon.

The prepared berries, cleaned of seeds, are ground in a meat grinder to the desired consistency.

The resulting mixture is placed in a bowl with water and sugar is added. The puree should be cooked for about 120 minutes over medium heat, then citric acid is added.

While cooking, stir the jam with a spoon until it begins to leave a noticeable trail. At this point, increase the heat for 5 minutes.

Place the resulting dessert, while hot, into sterilized jars and roll up.

Seedless

This method requires minimal ingredients. All you need to prepare is:

1. Ripe berries – 1.5-2 kilograms.
2. Sugar – 1.5 kilograms.

Place the washed, pitted cherries in an enamel bowl and sprinkle with granulated sugar, stir and leave for 10 minutes to dissolve the sugar.

Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and simmer for at least 15 minutes. Skim off any foam that forms.

Blend the resulting mixture until smooth. Continue cooking the jam for about 2 hours, until done.

Divide the prepared filling into sterilized jars and seal. Allow the treat to cool to room temperature, then store in a cool place.

Sugar free

This method is ideal for those watching their figure. For 5 liters of the finished cherry dessert, you will need:

1. Pitted cherries – 7-7.5 kilograms.
2. Ground cinnamon – 13 grams.
3. Cloves – 2 pieces.
4. Light-colored apples – 1 kilogram.

Take two enamel saucepans (one large and one small). Fill the large one with water, and add the chopped berries (half of the total volume) to the small one.

Add water to the puree and simmer for about 60 minutes. Then add the remaining half of the chopped fruit and continue simmering.

After 30 minutes, add the cloves, cinnamon, and finely chopped apples. Cook until tender.

Spread the hot jam into sterilized jars and bake in a preheated oven (70-80 degrees Celsius) until a thin film forms. Then leave to cool.

Seal the cooled jars.

With gelatin

To make thick cherry jam that can be quickly turned into jelly, use the following recipe. You'll need:

1. Seedless berries – 1.5-2 kilograms.
2. White currant – 300-500 grams.
3. Pitted apricots – 300-500 grams.
4. Sugar – 1 kilogram.
5. Gelatin - a full tablespoon.

Blend all the berries you need. Add sugar to the boiled water and simmer the syrup for 25 minutes over low heat.

Dissolve the gelatin in cold water. Then, using small spoons, add the resulting mixture to the cooled sugar syrup. Add the berry puree.

Simmer the treat until it thickens. This takes about 60 minutes on average.

With black currant

To prepare this dessert this way, you'll need a slow cooker. It makes making cherry jam even easier.

You need to prepare:

1. Pitted cherries – about 2 kilograms.
2. Black currant – 1 kilogram.
3. Granulated sugar – 1.5 kilograms.

Add the pureed mixture to the multicooker. Bring to a boil using the skim mode (skim off foam).

Set the temperature to 60 degrees Celsius using a different setting. After 60 minutes, add sugar, stir, and simmer for another 30 minutes.

With apples

This filling will satisfy any sweet tooth. You will need:

1. Ripe cherries – 1.5 kilograms.
2. Apples – 700 grams.
3. Sugar – 1 kilogram.
4. Water – 250 milliliters.

Remove the pits from the berries and blend until smooth. Peel the apples and cut them into small slices.

Place the fruit in a small saucepan, cover with water and cook over moderate heat for 10-15 minutes (until soft).

Puree the boiled apples through a sieve, mix with the cherry puree and sugar, and stir. Bring the sweet filling to a boil and simmer for another half hour, skimming off any foam periodically.

In a multicooker

This recipe features not only juicy cherries, but also apples. You'll need:

1. Sweet and sour apples – 600-750 grams.
2. Seedless berries – 1 kilogram.
3. Sugar – 1 kilogram.
4. 250 grams of water.

Peel and pit the fruit, cut it into quarters. Grind the apples and cherries, add the resulting mixture to a slow cooker, and cover with water. Set the appliance to "Simmer" mode for about 60 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After an hour, add sugar and cook for another 30 minutes.

Storing cherry jam

This sweet treat will only keep well in a stylized glass container. If you don't plan on storing it for long periods, there's no need to seal the jars. All other jams must be sealed, otherwise the dessert will become moldy.