Cherries!

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Our friend has a large Bing cherry tree in her backyard, and a next-door neighbour of hers has a small, sour cherry variety. Dave the monkey climbed up into the farthest branches of each to pluck a significant harvest for us. As a result, I got busy preserving (of course)!

Cherry Pie Filling

Quality: Select fresh, very ripe, and firm cherries. Unsweetened frozen cherries may be used. If sugar has been added, rinse it off while the fruit is still frozen. I used a mixture of sweet and tart cherries to give the pie a more complex flavour.

Yield: 1 quart or 7 quarts

Procedure: See Table 1 for suggested quantities. Rinse and pit fresh cherries, and hold in cold water. To prevent stem end browning, use ascorbic acid solution.

For fresh fruit, place 6 cups at a time in 1 gallon boiling water. Boil each batch 1 minute after the water returns to a boil. Drain but keep heated fruit in a covered bowl or pot. Combine sugar (use less sugar if you're using more sweet cherries than sour, or if you're using all sweet cherries) and Clear Jel® in a large saucepan and add water. If desired, add cinnamon and cardamom. Stir mixture and cook over medium high heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Fold in drained cherries immediately and fill jars with mixture without delay, leaving 1 inch headspace. Adjust lids and process immediately according to the recommendations in Table 2.

Table 1. Cherry Pie Filling.
	Quantities of Ingredients Needed For
	1 Quart	7 Quarts
Fresh or thawed cherries	3-1/2 cups	8 - 9 quarts (original called for 6 quarts, but I found this insufficient)
Granulated sugar (see above)	1 cup	7 cups (I suggest 3 cups for tart filling)
Clear Jel®	1/4 cup + 1 tbsp	1 3/4 cup
Cold water	1 1/3 cup	9 1/3 cups
Bottled Lemon Juice	1 tbsp + 1 tsp	1/2 cup
Cinnamon	1/8 tsp	1 tsp
Cardamom	1/16 tsp	1/2 tsp

Table 2. Recommended process time for Cherry Pie Filling in boiling-water canner
		Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	0 - 1,000 ft	1,001 - 3,000 ft	3,001 - 6,000 ft	Above 6,000 ft
Hot	Pints or Quarts	30 min	35	40	45

Spiced Sweet Cherries

Original from Stocking Up

6 to 7 cups of sweet cherries (e.g. Bing)
Juice of 1 lemon
3 cups cider vinegar
1/2 cup honey
2 sticks cinnamon, each 2" long
24 whole cloves
1/8 tsp dried ginger or 2 slices fresh ginger cut 1/8" thick
2 bay leaves
3 segments of star anise
5 green peppercorns

Wash, pit & stem cherries and chill in ice water and juice from half a lemon.
In saucepan, bring to boil remaining lemon juice, vinegar, honey & spices then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Drain cherries. Fill 4 to 5 half pint (250 mL) clean, scalded jars 3/4 full with cherries. Strain hot pickling liquid over cherries, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel; apply two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a boiling water canner according to the recommendations below.

Recommended process time for Spiced Sweet Cherries in a boiling water canner.
		Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	0 - 1,000 ft	1,001 - 6,000 ft	Above 6,000 ft
Hot	Half-pints or Pints	10 min	15	20

Black Cherry Conserve

Original from Stocking Up

2 seeded oranges, chopped fine, and if sweet, add:
(1 peeled & seeded lime, chopped fine)
1 quart black, sweet cherries, stemmed, pitted & washed
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup lemon juice
3/4 tsp cinnamon
6 cloves or 1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cardamom

Barely cover the citrus with water (or cherry juice*) and cook until very tender.
Add cherries, lemon juice, honey & spices, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thick and clear.
Ladle into hot, scalded half-pint (250 mL) jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel; apply two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a boiling water canner according to the recommendations below.

Recommended process time for Black Cherry Conserve in a boiling water canner.
		Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	0 - 1,000 ft	1,001 - 6,000 ft	Above 6,000 ft
Hot	Half-pints or Pints	10 min	15	20

*We made cherry juice by steaming a mix of sweet & tart cherries in a very shallow amount of water (to prevent scorching). After canning (leave 1/4" headspace and process according to instructions for Grape Juice), I had some juice left over and it was perfect for the preserves.