Cherry Jam

Although we have a really small front garden we do have a lovely cherry tree in it which each year produces a huge quantity of delicious looking cherries.

However, looks can be deceiving! If you think ultra sharp, mouth pinching tartness is delicious then you would love our cherries (funnily enough my in-laws love them for that very reason). Having said that, about one in five are actually lovely and sweet so every now and then I take the risk and sometimes I'm rewarded. The birds really love the fruit and as the tree is right outside our bedroom, we are woken each morning by the chirpy sound of birds singing. I park my car under the tree most of the year but during the Summer months I have to park further up the street as it gets covered in deep red "presents", in less than two days it's a struggle to see what colour the car really is :-(

This year my hubby decided to pick as many cherries as he could reach to help with the poop problem and he had the idea we would make jam. Now whilst I love to craft, I do not like to cook, bake or generally do things in the kitchen but I thought it doesn't hurt to give it a go. 

I never knew how easy it is to make jam! Especially as the hubby bought Silver Spoon Jam Sugar, it has the pectin already added. Simplicity is not the word. You just mush the fruit, which was no problem as removing the stone from each cherry achieved that naturally. (It also sprayed cherry juice on every surface in the kitchen so they benefited from a good clean afterwards.)

You heat the fruit in a pan and add the sugar, slowly bringing it to the boil whilst stirring. Then it boils vigorously for just FOUR minutes before you quickly transfer it to the jar/s! The recipe for strawberry jam on the packet also says to add butter but we didn't do that.

I was really impressed with the end result, deliciously sweet, nicely set, homemade jam. YUM!

We're picking strawberries and gooseberries from my in-laws garden this week, so that will be the next venture in the jam making world. I'm hoping for a taste sensation! I'll update on how it went next time.

Keep crafting in earnest, Craftin' Ernest x