Recipe for Cherry Pinot Grigio Jam
July 17, 2012

Cherries always means summer, don’t they? I think of American Flag cakes and trifles and Cherry Clafoutis all rolled into one. Just this one time a year I make my Cherry Pinot Grigio Jam, and I have modifed the recipe for you here to make it a bit easier from the original I posted last year. When the cherries are left in half-pieces, you need to add pectin to get this jam to gel–but the benefit is that you really “preserve” the cherries in large, yummy pieces. I realize that making the pectin from Granny Smith apples is an extra step (extra work), and I set out to create one that will work without the added apple pectin.
I would love to know if you decide to make this! Please leave a comment and let me know how it turns out for you.
INGREDIENTS
6 lbs fresh pitted cherries, sliced in half (6 lbs net after pitting)
2 lbs pure cane sugar
Juice of one fresh medium lemon
Zest of lemon
3/4 cup Pinot Grigio Wine
Separately at the end to “finish” the jam, 1/4 cup Pinot Grigio Wine
METHOD
Place cherries, sugar, lemon, zest and wine in a plastic or ceramic container. Cover and let this mixture macerate overnight or at least 4 hours.
Prepare your water bath canner. Submerge nine 8 oz jars in your warm water while preparing the jam.
Pour the cherry mixture out into your preserving pan, if you don’t have a special pan, simply use the largest bottomed pot you have in your pantry. Using a hand mixer, slowly blend about half of the mixture, being sure to leave plenty of half pieces of cherries. Blending some of the cherries will help the jam come to the right consistency without the use of pectin. You will cook this down for approximately 35 minutes (depending again on the width of your pot), I only bring this jam up to 218 degrees if you feel more comfortable using a thermometer. This particular jam does not have to be brought up to the 221 gel point to attain a spreadable consistency. It should be nice and thick in your pot. Once this jam has thickened, add the additional 1/4 cup of Pinot Grigio and boil again for maybe 20 seconds to incorporate and give the jam a “winey” touch. This recipe will yield nine 8 oz jars of preserves. Your jars should be sterlized in boiling water for at least 12 minutes and then processed for 12 additional minutes after you add the jam and cap your jars. Take them out of the boiling water and leave undisturbed for several hours, then check the seals. If one doesn’t seal you can either reprocess or simply keep that one in the fridge.
Yield Nine 8 oz Jars
Recipe from: www.sunchowdersemporia.com
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