You have to try this cherry jam! It's amazingly simple to pull together.
If you prefer cherry fruit butter, cook down the mixture to a thicker (but, loose) consistency leaving out the pectin. Fruit butter can be used in a variety of ways (think cake filling, ice cream additions, oatmeal toppings - you get the idea.) I like using a small amount of pectin so that I get a gel but, not a super hard gel, I get a firm but, spreadable jam consistency. These cherries from Northwest Cherries are superb in flavor and really make this jam something you want to sit down and eat with a spoon straight from the jar!! I want to thank Northwest Cherries and The Washington State Fruit Commission for sending me such fabulous fruits as part of my 2019 Canbassadorship! Enjoy! Diane Cherry Almond Jam *small batch jam Ingredients: 1 quart chopped pitted sweet cherries 1/2 box SureJell Low Sugar Pectin (pink box) 2-4 Tablespoons almond liqueur *optional 1 teaspoon Rodelle Almond Extract 3 cups sugar, divided Directions: Place all your chopped fruit in a large bowl, add 1/4 cup of sugar, toss to coat, cover and set in fridge overnight. This will macerate the fruit (this releases the juices and deepens the fruit flavor in finished product) Take Macerated fruit, and all the juices in bowl and scrape into a large jam pot. Cook down 15 minutes on medium (keep an eye on it and stir to prevent scorching) Add in 2 & 1/2 cups of the sugar. Stir and cook down the entire mixture another 20-35 minutes (it should start to thicken as it cooks down) Add in 1/8 tsp butter, if needed. (helps lessen foaming), then use an immersion blender (or mash with a potato masher) and break up large chunks of fruit until you get the consistency of jam you prefer **do not liquefy the mixture. Take your pectin and the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and stir together in a small bowl. Raise the heat on your jam mixture to High. Add in the sugar/pectin mix and stir/whisk constantly until you are at a boil that cannot be stirred away - boil hard for one minute. I look for a 'craggy skin' to start to form around the edges of the pot/mixture...indicating gel stage has been released. Remove pot from heat, do freezer plate test to ensure gel stage has been reached, and prepare to jar jam for processing. Waterbath or Steam Can at 1/4" head-space for 10 minutes, adjusting for your altitude. Remove to a draft free area and let sit undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Wash & Label Jars. Store in Pantry up to One Year. Once opened, this lower sugar jam can be refrigerated up to 3 weeks.
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Ingredients:
Cake:
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bundt pan with non-stick spray. Use a paper towel to make sure spray gets into every corner of the pan and dust with baking cocoa. Turn bundt pan over and shake out any excess cocoa powder. In the bowl of a stand mixer fixed with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, baking cocoa, baking powder, espresso powder, baking soda and salt. Add in canola oil, buttermilk, vanilla paste. Mix on medium speed just until it starts to come together. Mix eggs in, one at a time. Slowly pour in boiling water. Mix for 2-3 more minutes. This batter will be thin. Pour batter into bundt pan. Sprinkle chocolate onto batter; mix in with a spoon. Bake in preheated oven for 35 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few crumbs on it. Allow cake to cool 15 minutes. Turn cake pan over onto cooling rack and carefully lift pan to remove cake. Cool cake completely. Transfer to a serving platter For the Cherry Jam Frosting: 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup butter, softened 2 - 2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste 3-4 Tablespoons cherry berry jam In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the cream cheese and butter; mix until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and jam and mix again. Pipe onto cooled cake. Refrigerate any leftovers I want to thank The Washington State Fruit Commission for sending me such fabulous fruits as part of my 2018 Canbassadorship! I hope you enjoy this jam as much as I enjoyed creating it. The cherries from Northwest Cherries were exceptional this year! Truly a treat to create with... Enjoy! ~Diane
Diane's Cherry Berry Jam Ingredients: 2 Cups Whole Cherries, cleaned & pitted 1-1/2 Cups Sliced Strawberries 1-1/4 Cups Blueberries; I used a pint of my canned blueberries 3/4 Cup Honey 1-1/2 Cups Sugar; divided 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste 1/2 large lemon; the zest and juice 1/8 teaspoon butter; to prevent foaming 1/2 box SureJell Low Sugar Pectin (pink box) Directions: Place all your sliced fruit in a large bowl, add 1/4 cup of sugar, toss to coat, cover and set in fridge overnight. This will macerate the fruit (this releases the juices and deepens the fruit flavor in finished product) Take Macerated fruit, and all the juices in bowl and scrape into a large jam pot. Cook down 15 minutes on medium (keep an eye on it and stir to prevent scorching) Add in 1 cup of sugar, the honey, vanilla bean paste, lemon juice with zest. Stir and cook down the entire mixture another 20-35 minutes (it should start to thicken as it cooks down) Add in butter (helps lessen foaming), then use an immersion blender (or mash with a potato masher) and break up large chunks of fruit until you get the consistency of jam you prefer **do not liquefy the mixture. Take your pectin and the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and stir together in a small bowl. Raise the heat on your jam mixture to High. Add in the sugar/pectin mix and stir/whisk constantly until you are at a boil that cannot be stirred away - boil hard for one minute. I look for a 'craggy skin' to start to form around the edges of the pot/mixture...indicating gel stage has been released. Remove pot from heat, do freezer plate test to ensure gel stage has been reached, and prepare to jar jam for processing. Waterbath or Steam Can at 1/4" head-space for 10 minutes, adjusting for your altitude. Remove to a draft free area and let sit undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Wash & Label Jars. Store in Pantry up to One Year. Once opened, this lower sugar jam can be refrigerated up to 3 weeks. Makes approximately 5 half pints First off, I want to thank The Washington State Fruit Commission for sending me such fabulous fruits as part of my 2017 Canbassadorship! I love trying to come up with new flavors, fresh ideas, and inventive concoctions! Since I had just canned up Danish Cherry Sauce using my Sweet Cherries from Northwest Cherries, I wondered how that would 'pair' with peaches. The pairing it great - such a wonderful outcome using the two fruits together and the cherries being spiced up already. I have written out below how you can get the same 'effect' in this jam without having to first can up some Danish Cherry Sauce (although, its worth doing because that alone is out of the World - great!) I hope you enjoy this jam as much as we are enjoying it!! I will be sharing a new no sugar peach jam here soon - its a softer set jam but, most all no sugar jams are - stay tuned! Enjoy! ~Diane
Diane's Peach & Cherry Jam *lower in sugar then traditional peach jams Ingredients: 4-1/2 cups chopped Peaches 1 cup sweet chopped Cherries 2 cups Sugar + 2 Tbs; *divided 1-1/2 cups Honey 2 Tbs + 1 tsp Sure jell Pectin (1/2 box, pink box low sugar pectin) 1 Cinnamon Stick about 4" long 1/4 medium Navel Orange; the juice (1 Tbs) and zest 1 Lemon; the juice (2 Tbs) and zest 2 Tbs Water 1/8 tsp Butter, to prevent foaming 1/2 tsp Almond Extract Directions: Place chopped peaches and cherries in a large bowl, add one cup of sugar, toss to coat, cover and set in fridge overnight. This will macerate the fruit (this releases the juices and deepens the fruit flavor in finished product) Take Macerated fruit, and all the juices in bowl and scrape into a large jam pot adding in the cinnamon stick. Cook down 15 minutes on medium (keep an eye on it and stir to prevent scorching) Add in sugar, honey, orange and lemon juice, zest and water (*reserve 2 Tbs of sugar for later.) Stir and cook down the entire mixture another 30-45 minutes (it should start to thicken as it cooks down) Remove cinnamon stick. Add in butter, then use an immersion blender (or mash with a potato masher) and break up large chunks of fruit until you get the consistency of jam you prefer **do not liquefy the mixture. I prefer to leave some larger bits of peach and cherry in mine. Take your pectin and 2 Tbs of the reserved sugar and stir together in a small bowl. Raise the heat on your jam mixture to High. Add in the sugar/pectin mix and stir constantly until you are at a boil that cannot be stirred away - boil hard for one minute. I usually look for a craggy skin to start to form around the edges of the pot/mixture...indicating gel stage has been released. Remove pot from heat, stir in almond extract, do freezer plate test and prepare to jar jam for processing. Waterbath Can at 1/4" head-space for 10 minutes, adjusting for your altitude. Remove to a draft free area and let sit undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Wash & Label Jars. Store in Pantry up to One Year. Once opened, this lower sugar jam can be refrigerated up to 3 weeks. Makes approx 7 half pints Pinterest Pin: www.pinterest.com/pin/530510031096585489/ Recipe and Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home Do you keep hearing that you need to buy Cook Type Clear Jel to 'can up' fruit pie fillings? Not so! You can can up your favorite fruit pie filling without any thickeners and thicken when you go to make the pie! It's as easy as 1-2-3 You just need to keep an eye on how much liquid is added into your pie crust before baking. You will use 1/3 cup of liquid from the quart contents to mix and thicken with cornstarch but, when you go to 'dump' the remaining contents of the quart into that mix - be careful that you don't have too much liquid or you will end up with a great tasting but, slightly runny pie. I reserve an additional 1/2 cup of liquid from the quart of pie filling * and used as a drizzle over our ice cream. I also make sure to lightly flour both sides of my bottom homemade pie crust when making fruit pies. Enjoy~Diane
Pie Filling Ingredients: For Each Quart: 6 cups Dark Sweet Cherries 1/2 cup Sugar 2 Tablespoons Bottled Lemon Juice 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon Almond Extract One Quart makes One 9"inch Pie (my pie crust recipe below) Directions: To make pie filling: Wash, pit and stem cherries. Bring prepared fruit and sugar to a boil in a large saucepan; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Stir often to prevent scorching. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients. Ladle hot mixture into prepared canning jars to a 1/2" head space. Process quart jars 30 minutes in a boiling water bath *adjusting for your altitude. Remove jars to a draft free area and let cool 24 hours before removing rings, washing, labeling and storing jars in pantry. To use filling in a pie: thicken pie filling by draining 1/3 cup of liquid from the quart into a medium sized bowl, Whisk in 3 Tablespoons of cornstarch and 1/8 teaspoon of salt until mixture is smooth. Add in remaining contents of quart jar and stir gently to blend. Pour into prepared pie crust. Top with remaining pie crust. Fold edges under and crimp. Cut slits in top for steam to escape. If preferred, use a pastry brush to lightly brush unbaked pie crust with a milk wash and lightly sprinkle with demerara (course) sugar. Bake pie at 450F for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350F and bake an additional 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly. To make a pie crust: Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt *pinch of sugar if you want a slightly sweet crust 2/3 cup cold butter (10 Tbs plus 2 tsp) 1 egg yolk 4 to 5 tablespoons cold water (more if too dry) Directions: In a Cuisinart: Combine flour and salt, pulse for 2 seconds; cut butter up with a knife into small chunks and add to food processor. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drop in egg yolk and enough water until flour is moistened, dough when pulsed should start to roll up into a ball on one side. Do not over mix; dough should be incorporated (not dry) and not sticky. Take dough out of food processor bowl and lay onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into ball. Flatten slightly and wrap each half of dough in plastic food wrap, you will need both halves to make this pie, place in refrigerator for one hour (you want butter in dough to chill again after being "worked" so that your pie crust is flakier when baked.) For this double crust pie, roll out one half of dough on lightly floured surface into 12-inch circle. Fold into quarters (or roll onto rolling pin and carry over to pie plate) Place dough into 9-inch pie pan sprayed with non-stick spray; unfold dough, pressing firmly but, gently against bottom and sides. Do the same with the second ball of chilled dough (making the top.) *Special Thank You to The Washington State Fruit Commission and Northwest Cherries for supplying the awesome Bing Cherries! Remember to "Preserve the Harvest" and visit sweetpreservation.com Recipe from: Ball's New Book of Canning Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home |