Prep Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- 6 cups bing cherries
- 1-2/3 cups sugar
- 1 pouch freezer jam pectin
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Preparation:
Note: Be sure to use freezer pectin, not regular powdered or liquid pectin. This recipe can take some time to jell; up to two weeks. If the mixture does not jell, empty it into a saucepan and bring to a boil, then repackage. And don't use jars larger than the recipe calls for. In fact, if you can find smaller jars, use those for best results.Place five (250 ml) mason jars in the dishwasher and run through the wash cycle to sanitize. Leave jars in dishwasher until you're ready to fill them.
Carefully pit cherries, remove stems, and coarsely chop them. In large bowl, combine sugar and the freezer jam pectin; stir well with wire whisk. Stir cherries along with their juice and the lemon juice into the sugar mixture and stir well for 3-4 minutes to dissolve the sugar.
Ladle jam into each jar leaving about 1/2" of headspace. Wipe tops of jars with a damp cloth and place lids on jars; fasten securely. Let stand at room temperature for one hour, then label refrigerate for 3-5 days until the jam sets. Then you can freeze up to one year. When opened, each jar will last, refrigerated, for about three weeks. You can also refrigerate the jars for up to three weeks; I do that with the first one and freeze the rest, taking them out of the freezer and putting them in the fridge the night before I want to use the jam.
