Cherry Jam

Cherries have always been just for eating on a summer day, especially at the beach, but things changed when I read a recent blog post from David Lebovitz about Cherry Jam.

Lebovitz has been involved with food his entire life as a cook, a baker, a food blogger and cookbook author. In the beginning, he spent nearly thirteen years at Alice Waters' Chez Panisse in California. He moved to Paris in 2004 and has written nine books, my favorites of which are The Perfect Scoop (all about ice cream, of course), My Paris Kitchen (French cooking with an American perspective), and L'Appart - The Delights and Disasters of Making Paris Home (all about his moving and eventually settling in Paris). Click here if you want to read about all of his books.

Lebovitz noted that the French prefer a runnier jam compared to those made it the U.S., one might even call it a sauce. By any name, it's delicious. On toast with coffee in the morning or poured over ice cream for dessert ... all good. I even found it to be a great complement to roast chicken as well as pork tenderloin. It's easy to make, versatile, and it doesn't require "canning". You can keep it, refrigerated, for several weeks or months. Try this, I bet you'll like it even if you aren't a cherry fan.

Cherry Jam

(2 ½ cups)

2 pounds (900g) sweet or sour cherries, or a mix

2 1/2 cups (500g) sugar

freshly squeezed juice of one medium lemon, plus additional juice if desired

1-2 drops of almond extract or 1-2 teaspoons of kirsch or another liqueur, such as Cointreau, amaretto, gin, or whiskey

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Remove the stems and pit the cherries. Put them in a large non-reactive pot. If using sweet cherries, add 2-3 tablespoons of water to the pot. (Sour cherries will exude enough liquid on their own so no need to add additional water.) Put a small plate or saucer in the freezer.
Cover the pot and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the cherries are wilted and cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Remove the lid and stir in the sugar and lemon juice. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently until the mixture thickens. It's hard to say how long it will take, but when the mixture resembles the sixth picture in the post, the one in the pot with the bubbles, turn off the heat and test the jam by putting a small spoonful on the frozen dish. Return the dish to the freezer for a few minutes until the jam on it is cool. Run a spoon through it and if the liquid is very thick and leaves a clear patch, as shown in the photo in the post, it's done. If not, return the plate to the freezer and continue to cook the jam, testing it at various intervals, until it's done. (If you want to use a thermometer to check the jam, it should be ready somewhere between 220º and 225ºF, 104º-107ºC.)
When ready, turn off the heat and stir in the almond extract or liqueur (or both, if you wish). If desired, you could add an extra squeeze of lemon juice to balance the sweetness. Ladle into clean jars.
Storage: This jam will last several weeks in the refrigerator. If you wish to can it, you can find instructions in the headnote before the recipe.