Cherry Jelly

Cherry jelly captures all the rich, deep flavor of fresh cherries in a smooth, spreadable preserve, and the part I appreciate most is that there’s no pitting required. You can water bath can it for the pantry shelf, or skip the canner and keep it as a simple refrigerator or freezer preserve.

We have half a dozen sour cherry trees in our yard, and they give us wonderful fruit for pie, jam, and preserves. The fruit is tart, but it’s much more flavorful than standard sweet cherries, and since preserves add sugar anyway, I’m happy to bottle up all that extra flavor.

We make home-canned cherry pie filling each year, along with sour cherry jam, but sometimes the crop comes in all at once, and I don’t have time to spend the day pitting cherries. That’s when I reach for cherry jelly, since it’s one of the few cherry preserves that skips the pitting entirely.

You can also make this recipe with sweet cherries, black cherries, Rainier cherries, or any other cherry you can find. With sweet cherries, I’d add 1 to 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice to the batch to balance the flavors, since they aren’t as naturally tart. Sour cherries are acidic enough on their own that the lemon is optional.

Choosing Cherries for Jelly

Tart cherries (also called sour cherries) are well suited to jelly. They carry the most cherry flavor, and their natural acidity balances the sugar nicely. That said, any cherry will make a lovely jelly. Black cherries give a deep, rich jelly that tastes a little like red wine, and Rainier cherries make a lighter jelly with an almost apricot note.

With sweet varieties, add a splash of lemon juice to balance the acidity, or reach for a low-sugar pectin and cut the sugar back (there are instructions for that below). And if you’re picking more cherries than you can handle in season, freeze them whole. Frozen cherries actually give up their juice more easily later, so they’re well suited to making jelly down the road.

You can also skip the fresh cherries entirely and use bottled cherry juice. Tart cherry juice is easy to find in most health food stores, where it’s sold for its antioxidants, and it comes either plain or concentrated. If you buy the concentrate, dilute it back to regular strength before using.

Ingredients for Cherry Jelly

Cherry jelly keeps the ingredient list short and lets the cherries do the talking. Here’s what each one does:

• Cherries: Tart (sour) cherries give the most flavor and acidity, but sweet, black, or Rainier cherries all work. Plan on about 3 to 4 pounds of sour cherries (roughly 2 quarts) or about 4 pounds of sweet cherries to reach 4 cups of juice. No pitting required, since you cook them whole and strain.
• Water: A little water in the pot helps the cherries start releasing their juice without scorching (used in the stovetop method).
• Lemon Juice: Optional. Sour cherries are acidic enough that the jelly sets and cans safely without it, so the lemon is really there to balance sweet cherries or add a little zing. Fresh or bottled both work. For a more neutral flavor, you can use citric acid powder instead, at about 1/2 teaspoon in place of 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice.
• Granulated Sugar: Sweetens the jelly and works with the pectin to create the proper gel. Regular powdered pectin needs plenty of sugar to set, so this recipe uses 5 cups of sugar to 4 cups of juice. Don’t cut it back with regular pectin, or the jelly won’t gel.
• Powdered Fruit Pectin (Such as Sure-Jell): The gelling agent that turns the juice into jelly. Sure-Jell is dependable, and Ball’s Fruit Pectin works well too. This recipe is written with enough sugar for regular, full-sugar pectin. See the note below for low sugar options.

If your cherries give you more than 4 cups of juice, add sugar to match (figure about 5 cups of sugar for every 4 cups of juice) and have a couple of extra jars ready, since you’ll make a little more jelly. If you come up slightly short of 4 cups, top it off with apple or cranberry juice to reach the full amount.

Juicing Cherries for Jelly

All cherries have a single pit (or stone) inside. When you make jam, you have to pit every one of them, which is the slow part. For jelly, you get to skip it: the cherries are cooked whole, then strained, so the pits and pulp are left behind and only the clear juice goes into the jar.

Start with good, sound cherries. Pass over any that are overripe, bruised, or showing soft or moldy spots near the stem, since a few rotten cherries can throw off a whole batch. There are two main ways to get the juice, a steam juicer or the stovetop, and I’ll walk through both. (You can also use store-bought bottled cherry juice and skip straight to making the jelly.)

Steam Juicer

A steam juicer is an efficient way to make juice for jelly or any other canning project. It pulls nearly every last bit of juice from the fruit, which means you get the most out of your cherries, especially if you’re buying them.

To use one, place the cherries in the top basket and add water to the bottom tray. Set the juicer on the stove and let the cherries steam for about 45 minutes to an hour, until the juice has collected in the middle chamber.

Since cherry season is in high summer, I like to set this up outdoors in my outdoor canning kitchen. It’s convenient, because my “kitchen” sits right in the middle of my blueberry patch and cherry orchard. It’s literally a few steps from the trees to the juicer, so everything goes in as fresh as can be.

I have a high-output three-burner outdoor stove, and it’s the right size to fit my steam juicer next to my extra-large Amish water bath canner, so I can juice and can side by side.

Stovetop Juicing Method

If you don’t have a steam juicer, the stovetop works just as well. Rinse the cherries, then place them in a medium saucepan or jelly pot and add 1/2 cup of water. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring often at first, until the juices start bursting from the cherries. Once there’s a good amount of liquid in the pot, you can stir less often.

Bring the cherries to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes, until all the cherries have popped and given up their juice. Keep the heat gentle so you don’t boil off too much liquid; you want plenty of juice, not a thick syrup.

Once the cherries have simmered, take the pan off the heat and pour the mixture into a jelly bag set over a deep bowl. Let it drip until the dripping slows right down, or until you have at least 4 cups of juice. If you don’t have a jelly bag, use several layers of cheesecloth inside a strainer instead.

Try not to squeeze the bag. For a clear, bright red cherry jelly, you want the juice to run through on its own, leaving the pulp behind. If some pulp does get through (which can happen with too few layers of cheesecloth), it won’t hurt the flavor, but the finished jelly may turn out a little cloudy.

How to Make Cherry Jelly

Once you have your juice, the jelly itself comes together quickly. One thing to keep in mind before you start: the pectin goes into the juice before the sugar, and the mixture has to reach a full rolling boil at each stage. That order is what activates the pectin so the jelly sets.

While your juice is straining, prepare your canning setup. Fill your water bath canner halfway with water and bring it to a simmer, then wash your jars and lids in hot soapy water and keep them hot until you’re ready to fill them.

Measure exactly 4 cups of cherry juice into a large 6- or 8-quart saucepot. If you’re a little short, add apple or cranberry juice to reach 4 cups. If you’re using lemon juice, stir it in now.

Stir in the entire box of pectin until it’s fully dissolved. Place the pot over high heat and bring it to a full rolling boil, which is a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling even when you stir it, stirring constantly as it heats.

Once you’ve reached a full rolling boil, add all 5 cups of sugar at once. Stir vigorously to dissolve the sugar completely, then return the mixture to a full rolling boil and boil for exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Timing matters here: too short and the jelly won’t set, too long and it can turn out stiff.

Remove the pot from the heat and skim off any foam from the surface with a metal spoon. A little foam is normal and won’t hurt anything, but skimming it gives you clearer jelly.

Canning Cherry Jelly

Work quickly while the jelly is still very hot, since it begins to set as it cools. If you’re new to water bath canning, that guide walks you through all the basics step by step.

Ladle the hot jelly into prepared hot jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the top. This headspace is smaller than most canning recipes because jelly is low in solids and doesn’t expand much during processing.

Wipe the jar rims thoroughly with a clean, damp cloth to remove any jelly residue, since even a small amount on the rim can keep a jar from sealing. Center the lids and screw the bands on fingertip-tight, without overtightening.

Place the filled jars on the rack in your prepared water bath canner and lower it into the simmering water. The water should cover the jar tops by 1 to 2 inches, so add boiling water if you need to. Cover the canner, bring the water to a gentle boil, and process half-pint jars for 10 minutes (adjust for altitude as needed).

When the time is up, turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, and let the jars rest in the canner for 5 minutes before lifting them out. This prevents temperature shock and reduces the chance of jars cracking or losing liquid.

Set the jars upright on a towel-covered surface and leave them undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours, listening for the “ping” of lids sealing as they cool. Once cool, check the seals by pressing the center of each lid. If it doesn’t flex, the jar is sealed. Refrigerate any unsealed jars and use them within 3 weeks.

Ways to Use Cherry Jelly

Cherry jelly is right at home with peanut butter on a sandwich, or all on its own on toast, English muffins, or biscuits. It works on just about any bread you like.

• Tea Sweetener: Stir a teaspoon into a mug of hot tea for a sweet burst of cherry flavor.
• Scones and Biscuits: Bake a batch of cherry or cranberry scones and serve them with cherry jelly alongside.
• Thumbprint Cookies: Spoon a little into the centers of thumbprint cookies before or after baking.
• Cheese Board: Serve a small dish of it next to soft cheeses like brie, where the bright cherry flavor cuts through the richness.
• Meat Glaze: Warm a few spoonfuls and brush it over pork or poultry in the last few minutes of cooking for a quick, glossy glaze.

However you use it, a jar of clear red cherry jelly has a way of making an ordinary breakfast feel like a small treat.

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