Name: Spiced cherry jam
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h
Ingredients: 1 kg of cherry; 1 cinnamon stick; 1 mandarin; 185g of muscovado sugar; 1 tsp vanilla extract; Juice of one lemon

Spiced cherry jam

15 Jul 2021

by Dinna

Prep Time

25 minutes

Cook Time

35 minutes

Total Time

1 hour

Background

During the cherry season it’s worth preserving a few jars of jam and chutney for the winter. This spiced cherry jam is super easy to make and perfect for cakes and puddings. I use less sugar than most recipes do, so the jam needs to be cooked a little bit longer in order to thicken. I added vanilla, cinnamon and mandarin to the recipe to create the flavours and fragrance of the winter festivities.

Ingredients

1 kg of cherry
1 cinnamon stick
1 mandarin
185g of muscovado sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Juice of one lemon

Instructions

Put a small plate into the fridge.
Wash and pit the cherries, then put them in a heavy-based pan.
Add the sugar, cinnamon stick and vanilla. Squeeze the mandarin juice over the cherries, then cut it into 4 pieces and add to the pan.
Bring to the boil and cook until the sauce thickens but it's still runny. Remove the cinnamon stick and mandarin pieces. Lightly crush the cherries with a potato masher and simmer until the sauce has thickened and started sticking to the pan. Turn down the heat.
Add a few drops of jam onto the chilled plate. Put it in the fridge for a minute, then run your finger through the jam - if it forms a crinkle and is tacky, it's ready. If it’s not quite ready, cook for another couple of minutes at a time and re-test.
Once the jam is ready, ladle it into hot, sterilized jars and place the lids on immediately.
Allow the jars to cool, then store them in a cool, dark place. Once opened, store the jam in the fridge.