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If you like sweet-tart flavors, you are going to fall head over heels for this sour cherry jam recipe! With only three ingredients, it’s incredibly easy to make, and is perfect on breakfast biscuits.

Tart cherries are also known as pie cherries because they’re commonly used in pie-filling, thanks to their intense flavor.

You probably won’t find sour cherries in the fresh produce section of your grocery store, but if you don’t grow them yourself, don’t worry! You’ll likely be able to find them in the frozen section, and frozen berries work just as well as fresh, with the added bonus that they’re already pitted for you – and that’s more than half the work!

When we lived in Tennessee, some friends of ours had two very prolific sour cherry, trees in their orchard, and they were fantastic! Packed with cherry flavor, and perfectly tart.

Now we live in Central Texas – and good luck growing cherries here! That’s okay, there are plenty of other reasons to love Texas. But the bottom line is that we’re one of those areas where you just aren’t going to find sour cherries fresh. That’s why the pictures in this post feature black cherries and props to make the photos pretty, and why the jam itself is made with frozen cherries.

With using fresh fruit, you’ll probably find that the prep work isn’t quite and quick and easy as, for instance, making blueberry jam, where all you do is wash the berries and you’re good to go, but it’s also not as involved as making apple jam, where you macerate the apples overnight so that they stay firm through the canning process. It’s a pretty nice middle road, actually.

Pectin and Sour Cherry Jam

All cherries are considered low pectin fruits. So while you can make an old fashioned version of jam using no pectin that is essentially a slurry of reduced cherries and sugar – more of a sour cherry preserves really, to make a proper jam, you will need to add pectin to the cherries.

I typically use powdered pectin, though I have noticed that a lot of canners use liquid pectin when making cherry jam, I haven’t been able to find a reason for this. Since I have bulk powdered pectin, that’s what I use.

Ingredients Needed

It doesn’t take a lot to make a good jam! Your most obvious ingredient is cherries. If you’re using fresh fruit, de-stem and pit the cherries before measuring. This can be made easy with cherry pitters, or done by hand using your thumbs to pry the cherry apart, and pick the pit out.

Next ingredient is sugar. There’s no more vilified ingredient, but it’s important to remember that you won’t be eating large bowls of jam in a sitting. This is a condiment, and as they say, the dose makes the poison. You aren’t actually use that much sugar. I like to use pure cane sugar. you can also use variations such as evaporated cane juice or turbinado.

Third, we have the aforementioned fruit pectin. This can usually be found on grocery store shelves, or ordered from Amazon very easily. Powdered pectin is a naturally occurring thickening agent found in the cell walls of most fruits and vegetables, but especially plums, apples, and the peelings of citrus fruits. when you buy powdered pectin, it’s typically made from the latter two fruits.

Another thing you can add to your homemade jam in the cooking process is butter. This is another optional step, but one I usually take, especially with foamy fruits like cherries. The added little bit of fat prevents most of the foam, which reduces the risk of boiling over, and means you have less to skim off before canning. The foam is perfectly edible, just a little unsightly I guess.

Some people also add lemon juice, but I typically only use it if I’m making jam with sweet cherries. This tart cherry jam doesn’t really need any more zest.

Equipment needed to can your cherry jam

If you’re planning to make a small batch of fruit jam to store in your refrigerator, you can skip this part. But if you plan to can it, here are a few tips.

First, you’re going to need canning jars. Most people tend to can jams and jellies in smaller jars. Pints, half pints, or even quarter pints. For my family’s personal use, I usually use half pints. Mainly so that we can have multiple flavors open at one time. If I open a pint, it’s such a large amount, I feel like we have to eat it before we can open another flavor of jam. I also like to use 4 oz. jars (quarter pints). it’s a small amount of jam, but they’re great for being able to put multiple flavors of jam in a gift baskets! Super handy around Christmas time.

With all that said, there’s not really a right or wrong brand of canning jars that I’m aware of. I usually use Ball, because that’s what I have, and some Golden Harvest. I’ve also use Walmart’s house brand (though it seems like they may have stopped carrying those?) with success. As long as the glass is sturdy, and the rim is smooth and flat.

Canning lids. For the most part, I use whatever lids come with the jars – the first time around anyway. The thing about lids is they’re less reusable than jars are. So after that first use, I switch to Denali Canning replacement lids. They’re a smaller company, and their lids have a seal guarantee – something you don’t get from big canning companies. I buy them in bulk, and still have yet to have one not seal.

A water bath canner. This can be almost any pot that’s deep enough to accommodate a rack (so that your jars have some water circulating between them and the heat source), and have a water level that covers the jar by two inches. I have this stainless steel water bath canner, and this graniteware canner. Both work equally well, but in my mind, stainless steel is always better.

Instructions

If using fresh cherries, wash and pit cherries. If using frozen cherries, measure, and then let them thaw.
Next, chop cherries roughly. You can do with with a knife and cutting board, by pulsing them in a blender or food processor, or use an immersion blender. You can blend as much are as little as you like to make the cherry chunks your preferred size.
Stir in powdered pectin and heat over medium heat, continuing to stir until pectin is dissolved.
If using, add 1/2 teaspoon butter (this is to reduce foaming).
Heat to a full boil that can’t be stirred down, then add sugar, all at once, stirring until dissolved.
Heat bak to a full rolling boil that can’t be stirred down, and continue boiling for one minute.
Remove from heat, and skim off foam, saving it for later (it’s great on toast!).
Ladle jam into sterilized jelly jars, leaving a half inch headspace, wipe rims clean with a soft cloth, and screw down lids and bands.
Fill canning kettle with hot water, and the rack, and lower jars into kettle.
Heat over medium-high heat to a rolling boil.
Process jars 10 minutes (if using quart jars, process for 20 minutes), remove from heat, and let cool in canner if possible. If not, let cool as long as possible, then carefully remove from hot water, protecting from drafts.
Place jars in a place where they can cool undisturbed, and cover with a towel to protect from drafts.
After 24 hours, check jars for seal, and store in a cool place out of direct light.

How to use cherry jam

This jam is so good! Fully of sweet-tart fruitiness, and perfect on:

Warm biscuits
Yogurt Parfaits
On vanilla ice cream
It’s also great for filling pastries, such as turnovers
As the base of a cherry sauce to serve over pork chops

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