Fragrant jam with a delicate and delicate taste is obtained from the fruits of cherries. Despite the similarity of this berry with cherries, the harvesting for the winter from it is completely different in taste and healthy composition. Today, many refuse to preserve cherries in favor of purchased analogues. But making such a blank at home is much easier than it might seem. Cherry jam is prepared quickly and easily, even those who have never cooked can do it.
Preparation for conservation
It is possible to preserve sweet cherries from the beginning of June, when the berries have already poured color and taste, but have not yet lodged. Fits any available variety: black, white, pink. The taste of jam from this does not change, but their beneficial properties differ slightly. Although such a delicacy is prepared primarily for the sake of its taste. In addition to jam, it will be useful to leave some of the berries on compote, jam or jam.
So that cherry jam has not lost its taste and aroma, it has stayed longer, you should pay attention to choosing the right dishes for preservation. It is recommended to use containers with a capacity of no more than 7 liters. In large pots or deep basins, the berries will fall apart under their own weight, due to which the product will lose its appearance and most of the nutrients.
For the preparation of cherry dessert, you can use dishes made of brass or aluminum, stainless steel containers and enamelled are best suited. In addition to the pan, you need to prepare the lids and jars, they must be sterilized before you put the jam in them. Sterilization should occur at the end of cooking, so that dust and microbes cannot settle on the inventory.
Jam Recipes
Tasty cherry jam will turn out if you cook it gradually in several stages. During cooking, it is important to ensure that it does not boil too much, because on high heat the sugar does not have time to dissolve, and the berries are wrinkled. You can cook such a treat with the bones, then it will acquire a specific aftertaste with a woody touch. But in this form, jam is not very practical, since the bones are not the best component of food. In addition, such a blank is stored for no more than a year.
The most popular cooking option is the boneless jam, this dessert is especially tender, and you do not have to worry about the bones during the meal.
Although the previous version will save more nutrients. In any case, to prepare such sweetness for the winter is definitely worth it – even with bones, even without them.
Bone Jam Recipe:
- 2 kg of sugar;
- a bag of vanillin;
- 2 kg of sweet cherry;
- half a cup of water;
- citric acid (at the tip of a knife).
Berries need to be washed well and free from tails, but left with a bone, dried on a towel. While the fruit is dry, you need to do sugar syrup: boil the mixed water and granulated sugar until the crystals completely dissolve, stirring constantly. When the syrup is ready, you need to pour the berries in it and return everything to the fire. Slowly boil the jam for 5-6 minutes and remove to a cool place. So he needs to stand up to complete cooling, to be fed with syrup and give the juice.
After a certain time, the container with the workpiece is returned to the stove, and when the contents boil, you need to add to it citric acid and vanillin. All boil the 10-15 minutes and turn off the heat. During the last cooking you need to sterilize the jars and lids. Jam spread warm or hot.
Boneless Jam Recipe:
- 1,7 kg of granulated sugar;
- 1,5 kg of sweet cherry;
- 350 ml of clean water.
Before cooking, all the berries need to be cleaned of legs and bones, this will be the main difference in cooking between the “stone” jam and this.
Water with sugar must be boiled until dissolved, it is better to do the syrup right in the container where the delicacy will be prepared. In the boiled sweet water you need to pour the berries without seeds, stir. When everything comes to a boil again, immediately remove it from the fire – it should not boil, but just boil.
After that, you need to stand overnight jam. The present billet must be returned to the stove, immediately removed as soon as it boils. Such actions need to be repeated 4-5 times. During the last brew, hold it after boiling for 8-10 minutes and pour it into clean jars.
Cherry jam is a special dessert, it will differ from the jam in a dense texture, because of which the taste itself seems even more tender. For it, you will need to take in equal quantities berries and granulated sugar. You will also need lemon juice, based on: for 1 kg of cherries 2 tablespoons of juice. The following is a simple cooking scheme:
- Berries need to be freed from stones and legs, rinse well. Cherry pulp need to grind with a blender or mince.
- Add all the sugar to the resulting mass and leave to insist. Jem will need at least an hour to be fed, but it is not necessary to withstand it for a very long time, since after grinding the juice will be enough.
- This mixture should be put on a small fire and cook, stirring with a wooden spatula. Jem should be cooked until thickened to the desired consistency. To check its readiness, you need to put a little jam on the edge of the plate: if it keeps its shape and does not flow, the cherry from the cherry is ready. Pack it in sterile jars immediately after preparation.
Jam with gelatin will turn out not less thick, but will contain less sugar, which only adds to its benefits. For the preservation you will need 1 kilogram of berries, 700 g of sugar and 200 ml of water. For thickening need 15 g of gelatin and a little citric acid.
- Fruits of sweet cherry need to be cleared of stones and legs, grind in a meat grinder or blender.
- Cherry mass combined with sugar in a bowl, where he will prepare the jam.
- Add sugar, citric acid at the tip of the knife to the container and put everything on the stove. When it boils, turn down the heat and give the jam a minute of 10.
- While the cherry is boiled, you need to completely dilute the gelatin according to the instructions.
- In a container with jam pour the swollen gelatin and let it boil, while stirring constantly. Pack a treat you need to immediately, so as not to cool.
In addition to the classic jam and jams, you can add other components to the cherry. The berry goes well with cherries, oranges, and walnuts. Each recipe considered is useful for making spins from both red and white cherries.
Use in cooking and medicine
Cherry jam, like other types of this dessert, can be used as fillings for sweet cakes, biscuit rolls with it come out especially tender. In addition to baking, this jam or jam is used with semolina and rice puddings. In winter, you can make homemade natural jelly or a delicious jelly from it to keep warm on winter days.
In folk medicine, such a delicacy is considered a storehouse of vitamins, because even after cooking the cherries retain a lot of useful components. It has vitamins of group B and PP, which is useful for immunity. Vitamin C, which will be very popular in the period of colds and viral diseases, gives particular benefit to this preparation.
In addition to the vitamin composition, there is a lot of plant fiber, which is useful for digestion and colon cleansing. The mineral composition will support the functions of internal organs, there are: calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium.
The calorie content of jam or jam will depend on the ingredients, in a classic seedless recipe contains about 230 Kcal. In addition to energy, proteins and fats are included in the jam, but in very small quantities.
Contraindications for use
Due to the high calorie content, jam should be limited to people with a tendency to be overweight. Because of the high sugar content, such a dish is contraindicated for diabetics, even if you replace refined crystals with analogues, since there is sugar in the sweet cherry itself.
Cherry dishes are strictly contraindicated for people with adhesive disease, since this berry dramatically aggravates the picture of the disease. Ladies in position can eat this jam in small doses so as not to cause allergies, the same applies to nursing mothers.
In addition to these categories of people, the rest of the use of this useful berries necessarily in any form. It is very simple to prepare cherries for the winter, but all year round its taste and healing properties will remain affordable.