Bird cherry jam

Bird cherry is a unique plant whose healing properties have been known to people since ancient times. The taste of fresh berries is not quite ordinary, sweetish, a little tart. But in many preparations for the winter, it looks much more attractive. The variety of bird cherry recipes for the winter makes it possible to choose something that is most suitable for your taste. And all year round enjoy the healing properties of tasty and at the same time very healthy berries.

What can be prepared from bird cherry for the winter

Those who from childhood are not accustomed to feasting on bird cherry and preparations from it, sometimes they cannot even imagine how much tasty and healthy can be made from this berry.

The easiest way is to cook fruit compote. Moreover, you can do this from bird cherry alone, or you can use additives in the form of a variety of berries: sea buckthorn, viburnum, currants, raspberries, mountain ash.

There are a variety of recipes and methods for making jam from bird cherry for the winter. After all, it can be cooked with or without seeds, with whole or pureed berries. And you can even create bird cherry jam without cooking.

The berries can also be used to make jam and delicious jelly. An interesting recipe for preserving bird cherry in the form of juice. After all, in winter you can make a variety of drinks from it, use it in the form of gravy.

The benefits and harms of bird cherry jam

Bird cherry jam is more likely not a culinary dish, but a healing agent. At the very least, bird cherry blanks containing seeds should not be consumed in unlimited quantities. Since they contain a certain amount of a substance that, during long-term storage, begins to release hydrocyanic acid. And this acid will not bring any benefit to the human body.

And otherwise, bird cherry berries contain too many biologically active substances, which determines their healing properties. Therefore, like any medicine, it is advisable to use bird cherry jam in moderation.

So, the benefits of bird cherry jam is that it:

• Contains a lot of tannins – tannins and pectin, which can provide significant assistance with diarrhea and intestinal infections.
• Due to the large amount of antioxidants, it can normalize digestion and establish other life-support functions in the body.
• It has a diuretic effect, which means it can alleviate the condition in diseases of the kidneys or liver.
• Helps strengthen the walls of blood vessels due to the content of rutin.
• Jam will help reduce the temperature and alleviate the general condition for any inflammatory conditions and infectious diseases.
• It is an antidepressant and aphrodisiac, due to the content of endorphins in the berries.

But jam and other bird cherry desserts also have tangible contraindications for use. They are strictly not recommended for pregnant and lactating women, as well as children under 6 years of age. Also, given the property of bird cherry to fix the stool, you should not get carried away with this jam for constipation.

How to cook cherry jam

The most ripe bird cherry fruits are suitable for jam, they have a minimal astringency. They can be purchased in the markets or collected in nature or in the areas of your friends. The fruits of wild varieties of bird cherry are not so large, but they are more saturated with useful substances.

To prepare bird cherry for the winter, it is usually collected along with twigs. Therefore, first of all, the berries must be carefully sorted out, removing all leaves, cuttings and other plant debris. Bruised, damaged, shriveled and diseased-looking fruits should also be discarded. Healthy berries should be shiny, fairly large, intensely black in color.

Then the fruits are washed. It is best to do this in a deep container of a suitable size, changing the water several times to clean. You can put the bird cherry in a colander and rinse by dipping it several times in a bucket of water.

Washed fruits must be thoroughly dried. This is usually done by placing them in one layer on a paper or cloth towel. The less moisture remains on them, the better the finished jam will be stored. Good drying is especially relevant for a recipe for jam from whole bird cherry berries.

To prepare bird cherry jam for the winter, it is best to use stainless steel dishes. Enameled is fine too, but bird cherry contains highly coloring pigments that can leave dark marks on the inside of the pan. But aluminum and copper utensils should be discarded, since these metals can come into contact with the substances contained in the berries. And the result will be completely unhealthy.

Jam cooked in traditional ways usually does not need additional sterilization. But the jars and lids themselves must be boiled before use.

The classic recipe for bird cherry jam for the winter

According to the classic recipe, jam is made from whole bird cherry berries, and at first it may seem watery, but over time it will definitely thicken.

You need:

• 1 kg of black bird cherry;
• 1,25 kg of granulated sugar;
• 0,75 L of water.

From the described amount of ingredients, about 2,5 liters of finished jam is obtained.

Manufacture:

1. The bird cherry is washed and dried.
2. Water is heated to boiling and 500 g of sugar are dissolved in it.
3. The fruits are transferred to a colander and dipped in boiling syrup for 3-5 minutes.
4. Then the colander is taken out and left for some time over the pan so that the syrup can drain from the berries as much as possible.
5. Bird cherry is transferred to a separate container and temporarily set aside.
6. And all the remaining sugar is gradually added to the syrup and boiled until it is completely dissolved.
7. Fruits are poured with boiling syrup and set aside for several hours to soak them.
8. After that, the future jam is moved to a very low fire.
9. After boiling, remove the foam and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and making sure that the jam does not stick to the bottom.
10. Bird cherry jam is laid out in sterile jars, covered with metal or plastic lids.

A very simple recipe for bird cherry jam through a meat grinder

The simplest recipe for making bird cherry jam for the winter does not even require heat treatment of the product. At the same time, the jam retains all the beneficial properties of the berry unchanged. It is only important that the bird cherry be in a fully ripe state.

You need:

• 500 g sorted and washed ripe berries;
• Xnumx g of granulated sugar.

Manufacture:

1. Prepared bird cherry berries are twisted through a meat grinder two to three times. Each time the mixture becomes more and more homogeneous.

   

   Attention! It is not recommended to use a blender for crushing bird cherry berries – the device can be damaged.
2. Weigh the resulting berry puree.
3. Gradually add 500 kg of granulated sugar for every 1 g. Mix thoroughly after each addition of sugar.
4. Wait about half an hour. If the sugar crystals do not dissolve, let the workpiece stand in a warm place for another 30 minutes.
5. After that, the jam is packaged in sterilized jars, and cleaned and stored in the refrigerator.

The resulting delicacy is used mainly for medicinal purposes. As an immunomodulator, you can eat it 2 teaspoons at the beginning of the day. Also, bird cherry jam prepared according to this recipe will serve as a good cough medicine.

But it is advisable to use it within the first 6 months.

Bird cherry jam with pits

The jam according to the following recipe is prepared in a similar way, but it is already subjected to heat treatment. Thanks to this, it can be stored in a regular pantry or in a closed kitchen cabinet.

You need:

• 1 kg of bird cherry;
• 1 kg of granulated sugar.

Manufacture:

1. The collected bird cherry is sorted out, washed thoroughly and dried on a towel to remove excess moisture.
2. Pass the berries several times through a meat grinder.
3. The resulting berry mass is transferred to a bowl for cooking, sugar is added, mixed and sent to moderate heating.
4. After boiling, the jam is heated for another 3-5 minutes, removed from heat and allowed to cool to room temperature.
5. Then put it on again for heating.
6. This procedure is repeated 2-3 times.
7. Finally, the bird cherry is boiled for the last time for about 10 minutes, distributed into jars and, wrapped, left to cool.

Recipe for tender red cherry jam

The same technology can be used to make red cherry jam. Few people know about the existence of another bird cherry – red, or, as botanists call it, virgin. It came to Our Country from North America and for a long time was used exclusively as an ornamental shrub. Its berries are slightly larger and unripe – bright red. When ripe, they darken, and their color becomes dark red, almost brown. They are somewhat more palatable than ordinary black cherry berries, since they have less astringency. Red bird cherry jam also has useful properties, although its composition is not as rich as that of its chokeberry sister.

You need:

• 1500 g of red bird cherry;
• Xnumx g of granulated sugar.

Manufacture:

1. Ripe berries of red bird cherry are also thoroughly washed and slightly dried on a towel.
2. Then three times twisted through a meat grinder. If you want to get a particularly delicate consistency of jam, you can turn the berry mass 4 or 5 times.
3. Then they act in the same way as with black fruits, boil the jam for 4-5 minutes with pauses between cooking periods.
4. It is enough to do this procedure 2-3 times and lay out the jam in a sterile dish.

How to make cherry jam with lemon juice

The sweetness of bird cherry will favorably shade the acid of lemon juice, and the resulting jam will amaze not only with taste, but also with an amazing aroma.

You need:

• 1500 g of bird cherry;
• 50-60 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 2 medium lemons)
• 1,5 kg of granulated sugar.

Manufacture:

1. The fruits are carefully washed so as not to damage their integrity, dried.
2. In a wide saucepan with low sides, sprinkle them with sugar, pour freshly squeezed lemon juice.
3. Leave bird cherry in a cool place for 10-12 hours (overnight).
4. The resulting juice is poured into a separate small container the next day and boiled for at least 5 minutes so that the sugar can completely dissolve.
5. The fruits are again poured with boiling syrup and left for several hours to soak.
6. Then put the jam on a small fire and boil for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring constantly.
7. The finished jam is poured into sterile jars, hermetically sealed.

How to cook bird cherry with cinnamon

According to this simple recipe, bird cherry jam turns out to be no less fragrant, although its smell is more spicy, cinnamon.

You need:

• 1 kg of bird cherry fruits;
• 0,75 L of water;
• 5 g of cinnamon;
• 1 kg of sugar.

Manufacture:

1. The fruits are washed, then placed in a colander for 5 minutes in boiling water.
2. Take them out and dry them on a paper towel.
3. 750 ml of water is poured from the one where the bird cherry fruits were blanched.
4. Heat the water to a boil, pour out the sugar and cinnamon and cook for about 10 minutes until a homogeneous composition is obtained.
5. Then bird cherry is placed in the syrup, heated to a boil and, reducing the heat, simmer with occasional stirring for about half an hour. Be sure to remove the foam.
6. When hot, the jam is packaged in jars, corked.

Pitted cherry jelly

Preparing seedless bird cherry jam is more laborious, but the result is worth the effort. Since such a blank can be stored for a much longer period. But, most importantly, by getting rid of the seeds, you can significantly reduce the possibility of food poisoning caused by hydrocyanic acid, which begins to form in the seeds during long-term storage. Yes, and enjoying such a dessert is much more pleasant – nothing creaks, does not get stuck on the teeth.

So, you will need:

• about 1,3 kg of bird cherry;
• 1 kg of granulated sugar.

Manufacture:

1. Bird cherry fruits, as usual, are sorted out, washed thoroughly in a colander and slightly dried.
2. Prepared bird cherry is placed in a suitable size pan and poured with water so that the berries are completely hidden in it.
3. Heat everything to a boil, and cook for about 12-15 minutes.
4. Then the water is drained from the berries using a colander.
5. The bottom of a metal sieve is covered with gauze and boiled bird cherry fruits are poured into it in small portions.
6. With the help of a wooden pusher, each portion is ground through a sieve, finally squeezing the accumulated cake with bones through gauze.
7. A fairly thick berry mass should remain in the pan.
8. Sugar is added to it, mixed and allowed to stand for half an hour at room temperature for impregnation.
9. Then put on fire and boil for at least 5-10 minutes.
10. You can transfer the resulting puree to sterile jars already in this form and, tightly twisting, store it in a cool place.
11. And you can add 50 g of gelatin, pre-soaked for 40 minutes in a small amount of cool water. In this case, the jelly will acquire a very thick consistency and will resemble marmalade.
12. However, in any case, it is desirable to store it in a cool place with a temperature not exceeding + 18 ° C.

How to make cherry jam

You can make bird cherry jam at home using a similar technology, only the water is not drained after cooking.

You need:

• 500 g of bird cherry;
• 500 grams of sugar;
• about 500 ml of water.

Manufacture:

1. Prepared bird cherry is poured with water so that it completely covers the berries by 1-2 cm.
2. Boil 10 minutes.
3. A colander is covered with gauze, placed over another container, and the entire contents of the pan are gradually poured into it. It is better to do this in small portions in order to have time to grind the boiled berries every time and remove the squeezed cake with seeds.
4. The resulting puree is weighed and the same amount of granulated sugar is added to it.
5. Place the jam on a slow fire and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
6. When hot, bird cherry jam is laid out in sterile jars, tightly twisted and, after cooling, put away for storage.

Bird cherry juice recipe for the winter

The principle of making cherry juice is very similar to that described in previous recipes. Only more liquid is used.

You need:

• 500 g prepared bird cherry;
• 1000 ml of purified water;
• 500 d Sahara.

Manufacture:

1. Bird cherry is poured with purified cold water and heated to boiling point, while crushing the berries with a wooden spoon or crush.
   Advice! It is not recommended to use metal and plastic spoons.
2. After the water with berries boils, everything is poured into a colander, the bottom of which is covered with gauze.
3. The berries are still slightly ground and the juice is left to drain in this form for about an hour.
4. A cloudy liquid with a large amount of sediment is obtained.
5. It is defended for another hour, after which the relatively transparent part is carefully drained, trying not to touch the sediment at the bottom.
6. Sugar is added to the resulting juice, heated to a boil and boiled for just a few minutes.
7. Ready juice is poured into boiled bottles and corked for the winter.

How to store bird cherry jam

Any bird cherry jam prepared according to the recipe with seeds should be consumed within 6 months from the date of manufacture. Further, the accumulation of hydrocyanic acid is possible in it.

Jam and other bird cherry desserts prepared with pits removed can be stored in a cool place without light for a year.

Conclusion

Bird cherry recipes for the winter can be especially useful for those who prefer to take care of their health with the help of natural remedies. After all, preparations from these berries help to cope with many ailments and leave a pleasant memory of the treatment process.