After our flights last year on Turkish Airlines I knew that sour cherry jam would have to make an appearance in my kitchen. This recipe uses frozen cherries as that is what is available in South Africa. I personally think mine tastes better than the overly sweet one we were served for breakfast on our flights.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Sour Cherry Jam ♥
Is there more to sour cherries than just the taste?
The cherries we can buy at the market are usually sweet cherries. The sour cherries are more acidic, and grow on trees smaller than those of the sweet cherries. In colour, sour cherries range from crimson to near-black and the most common cultivar is the morello cherry which is dark red. In some countries you will find amarelle, Kentish red, griottes and Flemish varieties. Turkey is the highest producer of sour cherries and this is the country where Dave fell in love with sour cherry juice. Or, to be more precise, it was on our flight on Turkish airlines.
Make good use of sour cherries
I have used dried sour cherries in baked treats, as well as in my granola. They can be used in soups, pork dishes and savoury pies. Fresh sour cherries are used to make the juice I mentioned above, as well as sour cherry jam. In Turkey, the jam is stirred into strained yoghurt for breakfast. A syrup can be made from the fruit and then used in liqueurs and alcoholic drinks, including beer. Or, the syrup can be used to make sweets. A refreshing drink can be made using the syrup and ice cold water – I prefer sparkling to still.
Quick and easy sour cherry jam
I bought frozen sour cherries and used these to make my jam. The recipe is super easy and takes very little time to make. Better still, it uses few ingredients and will keep well if stored correctly. I have used the jam to make mug cakes, and slathered on bread. It has passed the taste test from a few people and when we run out, I will make another batch.
Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Sour Cherry Jam ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Sour Cherry Jam
Ingredients
- 335 g frozen sour cherries
- 80 g honey
- 1 lemon, finely grated zest and juice
- 5 mls vanilla extract
- 10 g pectin
Method
- Place the cherries, honey, lemon zest and juice, and vanilla into a medium sized saucepan
- Place on a high temperature and as soon as the berries have defrosted mash them lightly with a potato masher
- Bring to the boil, stir in the pectin and reduce the temperature
- Leave to simmer for 60 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Set aside to cool slightly before placing into a sterilized glass jar
- Allow to cool completely before placing the lid on and refrigerating
Notes
See the links below for blog posts I published on January 18:
- 2021: Roast Tomato Soup
- 2019: Courgette Salad
- 2017: Milhaus
- 2016: Spanish Style Chicken
- 2012: Galangal
- 2011: Crab Pasta
this sounds wonderful. I love sour cherries but we can only get the dried ones or morello cherries in a jar of syrup. I have actually used sour cherries twice recently. Delicious syrup is in my fridge:)
That syrup must be amazing!
I love the sound of this
Thank you Sheree 🙂
I can only think of having cheese on hand to go with this jam!
I shall try that for you!
We have bags of frozen cherries, but they are the sweet cherries. I’m sure we can get sour cherries, I just don’t know where. The recipe looks delicious. In regard to your question on my blog about salsa: They sell jars of salsa in the US that is often used as a dip with chips. It is made from chopped onion, chopped tomatoes, chopped green and jalapeño peppers that is cooked and blended together into a chunky dip. I add it to soup because it adds a nice flavor.
That sounds very interesting, and thank you for answering my question 🙂
I love sour cherry jam, but finding fresh (or even frozen) cherries is quite a challenge here in Canada, too. Delicious!
I am so surprised as I thought Canada had a huge cherry growing region?