Cherry Jam

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide, heavy 6-quart (5.7-liter) stainless-steel preserving pan
• •Broad stainless-steel skimmer
• •Heatproof spoon or silicone spatula
• •Jam or sugar thermometer
• •Jar funnel and ladle
• •Four to five clean, warmed 1-cup (250 ml) lidded jars prepared according to The Cooking, Potting, and Sealing of Jams (No. 2955)

Instructions

1. 1

   Ready the whole kitchen

   Set out four or five clean 1-cup (250 ml) lidded jars, warmed and ready according to The Cooking, Potting, and Sealing of Jams (No. 2955). For this home adaptation, use fitted lids and keep the finished preserve refrigerated; this formula isn't being presented as a tested pantry-canning process. Place the skimmer, ladle, funnel, and a heatproof spoon beside the stove now. Once the fruit boils, you won't have a spare hand for cupboards.

2. 2

   Stone and weigh

   Stone the cherries, then weigh out 2 pounds (910 g) of prepared fruit. Use 1½ pounds (680 g) sugar if the cherries are richly sweet. If they taste tart or merely mild, add the optional 8 ounces (230 g), bringing sugar and fruit to equal weights exactly as the source directs. Make this decision before cooking; changing the sugar near the finish makes the set difficult to judge.

3. 3

   Dissolve the sugar

   Put the chosen quantity of sugar in the wide preserving pan and moisten it evenly with the water. Warm it gently, stirring only until every crystal has dissolved and the syrup is clear, then bring it to a brisk boil and cook for five minutes, skimming carefully throughout. Once it boils, stop stirring so crystals don't seed along the pan. If they do appear, take the pan off the heat, add 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) water, and warm gently until they dissolve. Ça se rattrape.

4. 4

   Cook the fruit fiercely

   Add the cherries and red-currant juice carefully, tipping them away from you because the syrup is very hot. Stir gently until any tightened sugar loosens, then raise the heat and bring the fruit to the strongest steady boil your pan can hold without scorching or overflowing. The instant the cherries begin to boil, skim away every patch of pale froth. If the scum has already hardened into a skin, lift it out in sheets with a damp skimmer; don't beat it back into the jam, where it dulls the preserve and encourages fermentation.

5. 5

   Read the nappe

   Boil hard, stirring across the pan floor often enough to prevent catching, until the nappe stage, the coating stage, is reached, usually 8 to 15 minutes after the full boil returns. Lift the skimmer and watch the jam fall: at first it runs away quickly, but at nappe it gathers toward the centre and falls slowly at long intervals in broad, heavy drops. A thermometer commonly reads about 219°F to 221°F (104°C to 105°C) at sea level, but the falling drops govern. Remove the pan from the heat immediately. If you overshoot and the jam begins setting rubbery, stir in hot water 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) at a time until the nappe returns; if it cools too loose, return it to the pan and boil briefly to the same stage.

6. 6

   Rest and pot

   Let the jam stand off the heat for seven to eight minutes, no longer. Skim any last trace from the surface, then stir once gently so the cherries remain distributed rather than floating at the jar tops. Ladle the jam into the warm jars, leaving about ¼ inch (6 mm) at the rim. Wipe the rims scrupulously clean and fit the lids. Warm glass matters here; a cold jar meeting hot preserve may crack, and jam containing broken glass must be discarded.

7. 7

   Cool and store

   Let the closed jars cool undisturbed, then refrigerate them within two hours. Leave the jam overnight before judging the set, as the currant pectin continues firming while it cools. Keep refrigerated for up to three weeks, or freeze for up to six months in freezer-safe jars with ½ inch (1.25 cm) headspace. Discard a jar entirely if you find mould, unexplained bubbling, leakage, or an alcoholic smell. Spoon the finished confiture onto buttered bread, brioche, or fromage blanc. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Taste the raw cherries before measuring the sugar. Very sweet fruit takes the book's three-quarters weight of sugar; fruit that isn't notably sweet takes equal weights. Don't reduce it further and expect the same set, colour, or keeping quality.
• •Use unsweetened red-currant juice, fresh, frozen, or pasteurized. Red-currant jelly isn't its equivalent because it brings an unknown quantity of sugar and has already undergone its own setting cook.
• •Width matters more than copper. A broad 6-quart stainless pan exposes more surface, so moisture escapes quickly and the red fruit keeps its colour. If your pan is narrow or smaller than 5 quarts, divide everything into two proportional batches.
• •The clock can only advise. Burner strength, pan width, and the water inside the fruit all change the cooking time, so learn the nappe and stop there.

Advance Preparation

• •The red-currant juice can be pressed and strained up to two days ahead, or frozen in the exact recipe quantity until the cherries are ready.
• •The cherries may be stoned, weighed, covered, and refrigerated for up to eight hours before cooking. Don't mix them with the sugar early, as the drawn-out juice changes the source method's syrup-first sequence.
• •Make the jam at least one night before serving. The set settles as it cools, and the cherry and currant flavours become rounder by the next morning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 20g)