Cherry Jam

Prepare all the ingredients for making pitless cherry jam. You can use any type of cherries - red, yellow, or pink-white, or you can mix them together.

Thoroughly wash the berries under running water. Let them soak for a bit and then drain the water and dry the berries.

Next, remove the pits. If you don't have a special tool, you can use a ballpoint pen, or more specifically, its casing. Take apart the pen, scald it with boiling water. Then, take one berry at a time, remove the stem and insert the pen casing into the place where the stem was attached, applying pressure. This way, the pit will come out from the other side, piercing through the berry.

Remove the pits from all the cherries. Firstly, check if there are any worms inside (they are often found in ripe berries). Secondly, it will be more convenient to eat such a cherry.

Place the pitted cherries in a deep bowl and sprinkle them with sugar. Wait for the berries to release their juice. The amount of sugar depends on how thick or concentrated you want the jam to be. If you want it thick, you need to add sugar in a one-to-one ratio. In my case, the jam will be slightly watery. Additionally, if you want the cherry jam to have a thicker consistency, you can add gelatin or pectin, and it will resemble more of a jam. Follow the instructions on the package to properly use these ingredients.

After 20 minutes, pour water over the cherries.

After the berries are mixed with water and sugar, squeeze the juice of half a lemon to them. The lemon juice will help enhance the aroma and preserve the bright color of the cherry jam. In addition, lemon is a natural preservative and antiseptic.

Put the pot with cherries on the fire. Constantly stirring, bring the mixture to a boil and cook for up to 10 minutes. Try adding some spices to give the jam an additional flavor. Good options are cinnamon, vanilla or mint. Experiment with adding different spices to find your unique taste. If for some reason you did not watch over the berries and they boiled over and lost their color, it is possible to restore it. Add a little fresh beet juice to the cherry jam. It will give the jam a beautiful rich shade.

During cooking, foam will form on top, on the berries, and it needs to be removed with a clean spoon. If you want to preserve the integrity of the cherries in the jam, do not overload the pot with too many berries.

Turn off the heat. And then boil again for two minutes. If you prefer smooth jam without pieces, after cooking, you can use a blender to turn the cherries into puree. This will help to achieve a homogeneous texture. If you want to keep the whole berries in the jam, do not cook them for too long, so that they do not lose their shape and texture. Vary the cooking time depending on how soft you want the berries to be in the jam.

Pitted cherry jam is ready. If you are making a fairly large quantity and will not eat it in the near future, you need to distribute the jam into sterilized jars while it is still hot. Then flip the jars upside down with the lids and place them on a soft cloth. After a day, remove them to the refrigerator. That's how I store cherry jam in the refrigerator for six months. It doesn't last any longer :) Enjoy your meal.