Sour Cherry Beach Plum Jam

The abundance of this year’s beach plum harvest filled nearly a whole shelf with jelly jars.  This bounty is providing an opportunity to incorporate the piquant plummy flavors of beach plums into jams and jellies of other fruits.

It turns out that sour cherries and beach plums are a match made in heaven. Luckily there was a pound and a half of sour cherries resting comfortably in the freezer.  Already pitted. Put aside this summer in anticipation of future delights. That’s thinking ahead.
Standard jam recipes call for chopping up the cherries. At SpecD we prefer keeping the cherries whole.  A whole cherry suspended in jam is downright lavish.

The tartness is further enhanced by using no sugar/low sugar pectin.  This type of powdered pectin holds a really good set with far less sugar than regular powdered or liquid pectin.

Sour Cherry Beach Plum Jam
Recipe makes 4 1/2 half-pint jars

1 1/2 lbs. pitted sour cherries
1/2 pint beach plum cherries
3 T. no sugar/low sugar pectin
1 1/2 c. sugar

Mix the cherries and any accumulated juice with the beach plum jelly.  When the jelly is melted and the fruit is getting hot and the pectin and stir well to incorporate.

Bring the cherry mixture to a full boil, stirring, and cook for 2 minutes.

Stir in the sugar and continue to stir as the mixture comes back up the boil.  Cook for 2 minutes.

Take off heat and process in sterilized half-pint jars. (The half pint or so left over goes into the ‘fridge for speedy consumption.

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