you need to run, run i tell you! get to your closest farm, stand, market or u-pick and get yourself some sour cherries. now! giddy up!
go!
ok, now that that’s taken care of; stuff a few in your mouth, and a bunch more into a pie or two. now, get dem in de jars! ’cause when winter whitewashes over you and your town, you can take a woolen-socked jaunt into your larder and pull out one of these babies.
and when you pop one open and let the glory of summer do cartwheels in your mouth you can say, “thank you tigress”.
or, you can forget you ever knew me and collapse in the deliciousness of it all.
take your pick.
simple sour cherries
adapted from urban pantry
for every 4 pounds of sour cherries you will need:
6 cups water
scant 1 cup sugar (i use raw)
1 pint mason jars
yield: each pound of fruit makes approximately 1 pint of simple sour cherries.
prepare jars and canning pot for hot water bath processing. you do not need to sterilize jars as you will be processing the filled jars for 25 minutes.
1. rinse, then pit cherries. i definitely recommend this or other some-such contraption. take care to keep cherries as intact as possible.
2. heat water and sugar on low in a small saucepan. once sugar has completely dissolved, turn the heat up and bring to the boil. once boiling, return heat to low and simmer until ready to use.
3. fill jars with raw cherries. tap the jars firmly on a towel covered counter top, and fill them again. continue to do this until you can get not one more cherry in the jar with a 1/2 inch headspace.
4. place 6 cherry pits in each jar, this lends a very slight bitter almond flavor. pour any remaining cherry juice at the bottom of the bowl evenly into jars. top with syrup, making sure to leave a solid 1/2 inch headspace. tap the jar again to release air bubbles and top with syrup if needed.
5. seal jars and hot water bath process for 25 minutes.
sour cherry preserves
adapted from put ‘em up
for every 3 pounds of sour cherries you will need:
1 cup sugar (i use raw)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 pint or smaller mason jars
yield: each pound of cherries makes approximately 1 cup of sour cherry preserves.
prepare jars and pot for hot water bath processing. you do not need to sterilize jars as you will be processing the filled jars for 10 minutes. place 2 or 3 small saucers in the freezer.
1. rinse, then pit cherries. note: remember to wear old dark clothes or a huge apron (or even nothing at all! shhh!)
2. place cherries in a non-reactive pot (stainless steel or enameled iron) and crush about 1/2 of them in between fingers to release their juice.
3. add sugar and lemon juice, heat on low until the sugar has completely dissolved. turn up the heat and boil for approximately 20-25 minutes, or until desired set has been reached.
to test for set: take off the heat. place a teaspoon full on a frozen plate. place plate back in freezer for one minute. take out of freezer and push tip of finger through preserves. if it wrinkles under the finger even a little bit it is set. if you finger slides right through with absolutely no resistance, boil for one minute longer. repeat again as necessary.
4. seal jars and hot water bath process for 10 minutes. or jar and put directly into the fridge.
these sour cherries were so tasty, so perfectly cherry-like that i couldn’t bear to add anything more to the mix. my main goal with both was to preserve that lusty cherry taste. the jam delivers, completely. it’s mouth-puckering with just enough sweetness to woo a slice of toast and butter.
the simple sour cherries? i imagine eating their crimsoned summer flesh, incrusted, by the light of a wintery moon.
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Hi Tigress…no sterlization needed for 10 minutes processing time. You only need to do so if it's less than 10 minutes.
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_01/sterile_jars.html
I usually end up with sterlized jars because I am heating the water anyway, but I just thought I'd share. Hope this helps!
cynthia – yup! i've listed it up there in the jamming instructions – no need to sterilize for 10 minutes or longer processing times. and yes, i agree i end up sterilizing sometimes just when i am heating up the jars regardless.
Yay! Thank you Tigress! I have one small sour cherry tree that is just ripening now. I put up a lot of the fruit last year in various ways and wanted to do even more this year. Two more recipes to add to my repertoire!
Do you happen to have one for sour cherry salsa? I highly recommend Linda Z's super-sweet pickled cherry recipe from Joy of Pickling. And also cherry bounce (cherries in vodka until Xmas – then add simple sugar syrup to taste).
For those of us who don't get sour cherries, what are our canning options for sweets?
Wow, I didn't realize that sour cherries would taste good in anything but a pie. I'll have to buy some and try them before I commit to buying a tree. I sure hope I like them as my area is better suited to sour cherries than sweet ones.
The preserves look beautiful!! Absolutely mouth watering and maybe puckering! I am so excited, a close friend bought me some weck jars for my birthday – they now carry them at Crate and Barrel. She totally did not understand my excitement, she just kept shaking her head and saying, they are just empty jars. Keep in mind of course this is a woman who eats out EVERY meal almost EVERY day so most of what I do is odd to her. Can't wait to fill those jars with cherries, wish I had some.
That looks really great. Making cherry jam was one of the reasons I learned how to can. I want to make some sour cherry jam that my mother made when I was a kid. It was so good. I remember watching an Erol Flynn movie (B&W) while my Mom and I pitted a whole box of cherries with hand cherry pitters. What a job! But we had lots of fun. It's one of my favorite memories of my mom.
Maybe a silly question, but is it 3lbs of cherries before or after pitting (for the preserves)? Thanks – can't wait to make some myself!
anonymous – thanks for the recipe recommendation. it sounds like i need to check it out.
mimi – you can certainly do either of these for sweets.
daisy driver – how great that crate and barrel is selling wecks!
eleanor – what a great memory!
mallorie – 3 pounds of cherries before pitting.
I've never made jam before, but my friend has so many sour cherries that she won't eat, and this would be a great way to use some of them! Great post!
If I can ever, ever get sour cherries (like, next year), I am going to come right back here. These preserves look gorgeouse. (Hmmm. I mistyped that, but I like it.)