Diane's Cherry Berry Jam

      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