Homemade Cherry Jam Recipe With And Without Sugar
We present you two options for making cherry jam at home: with and without sugar. Also, we tell you dishes where you can add it
Editorial
16/05/2019 10:00h
It's cherry season! One of the best ways to preserve this delicious fruit to enjoy it any time of the year is by making homemade cherry jam. In this article, we tell you how to make cherry preserves recipes step by step and the uses we can give to them. Also, for all those who do not want to add sugar, we also tell you the sugar-free recipe.
Cherry jam recipe step by step
To make a delicious cherry jam it is necessary to select good fruits, which are fleshy and are at their optimum point of ripeness. They all have to be in the same ripening stage, without mixing green with ripe. In this cherry jam recipe, we will have to put half the weight of the cherries in sugar, so we have to consider the weight of the cherries once we pit them.
To make 450 g of cherry jam we need the following ingredients:
- 500 g pitted cherries
- 30 g lemon juice
- 250 g sugar
Once we've pitted the cherries, we'll put them in a saucepan with all their juice. We also add the lemon juice and the sugar. We mix everything and set it to boil. When it boils, lower the heat to medium and let it continue cooking for about half an hour more.
During this time we have to stir from time to time to prevent the sugar from sticking in the saucepan. After this time, our jam will be ready, just let it cool and put in a glass jar.
We have to take into account that we won't get the texture of jam when it is hot, but when it is cold. The cherry does not have much pectin, so if we want a very thick cherry jam, we will have to add pectin or some gelling agent such as gelatin leaves. Another way to get a thick cherry jam is to cook it with apple skins.
Once it has cooled down and adopted enough thickness, the last step of this cherry jam recipe is to preserve it. Although if you want to consume it during the following days, you can keep it in an airtight jar in the fridge. It can be kept for several weeks thanks to the sugar and the cold.
No-sugar cherry jam recipe
For all those who do not want to add sugar to the jam but do not want to give it up, here is a cherry jam recipe that does not contain sugar, but a natural sweetener. In this way, we can also serve it to accompany meat, cheese, biscuits, and breakfast.
For a little more consistency and thickness, at the last moment, we will add three sheets of unflavored gelatin or natural pectin, such as the skin of two apples. In this recipe, we substitute the refined white sugar for honey or muscovado, although it is possible to add another type of natural sweeteners like panela, agave syrup or stevia.
To this make cherry jam recipe we need 800 g of clean, pitted cherries, two tablespoons of honey, muscovado, liquid stevia or other another sweetener, the juice of half a lemon, three sheets of neutral gelatin and the skin of two apples.
First, we have to soak the gelatine in cold water. Then add the cherries, sweetener and lemon juice in a pan. If we are going to use the skin of two apples to make the jam thick, we also put it in the saucepan, and it is not necessary to add the gelatine since the skin of the apple will make pectin.
Cook everything over medium heat for 35 to 40 minutes. If we use gelatine to thicken the jam we have to add it drained when 3 minutes are left to finish with the cooking time. If we put the skin of the apples, we cook them together with the cherries, and at the last moment, we remove it.
When we finish cooking, the sugar-free cherry preserves will be ready. If we like it a little lighter, we can blend it a little. If we want to keep it for preserving, we have to put the jam in sterilized glass jars. Fill them, cover them and turn them inside out. Let them cool down and leave them upside down during the whole night so that the vacuum is created.
Keep in mind that this cherry jam recipe is different and that, when using a sweetener other than regular sugar, the jam does not have the same consistency, for this reason, we have to use neutral gelatin or natural pectin.
Moreover, conservation will not be the same, since natural sweeteners are not preservatives such as sugar, they only bring sweetness. If we are not going to keep it preserved, it will last in the fridge in a closed glass jar for a couple of weeks, as it does not have sugar that preserves it for longer.
Recipes that go with cherry preserves
We always associate the cherry jam recipe with breakfast, spread on toast, but the truth is that we can give it many more uses and in a different way than usual. For this reason, we explain to you in what other ways we can enjoy cherry preserves.
In addition to the options below, you can also use it to fill biscuits or to cover cakes or cheesecakes.
1. With appetizers
Cherry jam recipe is perfect to accompany recipes for battered appetizers such as chicken fingers, croquettes or similar. The sweet flavor of the cherry combines very well with batter.
2. Milkshakes
We can prepare shakes of different flavors and add cherry jam. They are very easy to prepare, we just need to add ice cream or vanilla, a few tablespoons of jam and a glass of cold milk. The result is a refreshing and delicious cherry milkshake that we will have prepared in just 2 minutes.
3. Sauce for meat and fish
We can use cherry preserves to prepare a light sauce that is ideal to accompany meat and fish. Just heat a few tablespoons of jam with butter. After straining, the result will be a wonderful sauce that will serve as an accompaniment to meats, fish and even foie gras.
4. Homemade ice cream
Another way to take advantage of cherry preserves is to make cherry ice cream. Just prepare an ice cream base and add tablespoons of jam and mix everything. The trick to prevent crystals from forming when freezing is to stir every 20 minutes during freezing.
5. To flavor meat
Cherry jam recipe is ideal for flavoring pork meats or white meats that don't have a powerful flavor. To do this, we only have to mix the jam with liquid cream and boil it. Then we can add it on top of the meat, which will give it a great sweet taste.
6. Salads
Another use of this cherry jam recipe is as a dressing in salads with nuts and goat cheese. To do this, we will have to prepare a vinaigrette by adding a few tablespoons of jam to the rest of the ingredients and stirring well. It will bring a perfect flavor to this type of salad
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