How To Make Cherry and Gooseberry Jam

Homemade Jam Recipes

Ingredients: Cherry and Gooseberry Jam Recipe

3 lb of dark cherries (such as Morello cherries)
1 1/2 lb / 750 grams of gooseberries (preferably red gooseberries)
4 lb / 1,800 grams of white granulated sugar
1/2 lemon

Method - What To Do

Rinse all of the fruit and trim the gooseberries, topping and tailing in the usual manner. Place the trimmed gooseberries into a deep preserving pan and then turn your attention to the cherries. Pick off any remaining stems and remove the stones. Add your stoned cherries to the pan and mix to roughly combine with the gooseberries.

Place your preserving pan onto a low heat and when the fruit starts to simmer, squeeze over the juice of half a lemon. Allow the cherries and gooseberries to simmer away for 20 minutes, so that all of the fruit has been cooked and becomes soft. During this cooking time, stir slightly, so that the fruit doesn't stick and remains whole. Alternatively, shake or agitate the pan from time to time.

Take your preserving pan off the stove and tip in all of the white sugar. Gently mix this in, so that it fully dissolves with minimal damage to the fruit. Try not to break the fruit up if you like chunks in your jam, while if you would prefer a smoother end result, mash the mixture a little.

Place the preserving pan back onto the heat of the stove and bring to a strong boil for ten minutes, or slightly longer, until you feel that it has reached its final setting point. Test for this by spooning a little of the jam mixture onto a chilled plate and leaving for just a minute. After this minute has passed, touch the jam to see if it is solidifying and forming some kind of thin skin - this will be obvious if you run your finger through the jam, as it will start to ripple. If you feel that this is not happening and the mixture seems to be too runny, simmer for another five minutes and re-test. It shouldn't take much longer to accurately find the setting point.

Take the preserving pan off the stove for the final time and leave its contents to thicken up slightly for around 15 minutes, so that the bottled jam will show a more even distribution of fruit. Skim off any unattractive scum residue from its surface and ladle into sterile glass jars, using a wide-ended funnel to make this part easier if you have one to hand.

Cherry and Gooseberry Jam Recipe - More Jam Recipes.