I look forward to cherry season all year. For a month or so I buy as many dark sweet cherries as I can get my hands on, and absolutely gorge myself. But sometimes I go a bit overboard and have to figure out what to do with the rest of my bounty. Enter…delicious bourbon cherry jam!
The great thing about this recipe is that if you’re looking for a cherry jam without pectin, this one has got you covered…but if you’ve got pectin on hand and you’re looking for a thicker, more “set” jam then this recipe is perfect as well.
As with most jam recipes, this one is really forgiving on quantities. Basically, you want roughly a 2:1 fruit-to-sugar ratio, so a kitchen scale will be helpful.
So for this batch I had 570g (a little over half a pound) of dark sweet cherries, and so used around 280g of sugar (I backed off just a tiny bit because my cherries were quite sweet).
It will seem like way too much sugar, but that ratio is really important…if you cut back too much, the jam won’t set well (especially if you’re not using pectin). The sugar plays a critical role in the jam science. JAM SCIENCE!
Wash your cherries and then remove the pits (I use my beloved cherry pitter).
Place in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and chop some or all of them into pieces. You can leave some whole if you’d like…depending on how chunky you want your jam.
Place the cherries in a medium heavy-bottomed pan and add the sugar. Stir together and let sit for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.
When ready to cook, turn the heat on and bring to a low boil. If the mixture is starting to foam, your can try to remove some of the foam with a spoon.
Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes. As you cook, the cherries will become soft and darken in color.
After the 20 minutes, add the vanilla, almond extract, lemon zest, lemon juice, and bourbon. The mixture should thicken slightly. Go ahead and add the butter (if using) as well and stir it in.
Let the jam cool for a couple minutes, then pour it into clean jars. Don’t overfill them. Place the lids on (I recommend the metal ones for this) and screw on tight, then flip the jars upside down…the heat from the jam helps seal them.
Once cool, I tend to recommend refrigerating or freezing, though technically they’ll be shelf-stable for a couple months. Once you open a jar, keep in the fridge and I recommend using within a month or so.
This jam is sweet but still bright (thanks to the lemon), with some lovely nuanced depth from the bourbon. I’ve been using it on everything, from drop biscuits to almond flour pancakes to soft dinner rolls.
Other jams & sauces you’ll love:
- The Best-Ever Strawberry Balsamic Jam (no pectin)
- Spiced Pear Jam
- Louise’s Amazing Apple Butter
- Peach Preserves
- Homemade Peanut Butter
Adapted from Cooking LSL
Easy Bourbon Cherry Jam (With or Without Pectin)
A super easy and delicious bourbon cherry jam recipe for any occasion...sweet, bright, layered. You can easily make this cherry jam without pectin as well (or without the bourbon if you prefer).
Ingredients
- 1 pound of pitted dark sweet cherries (see notes)
- 1/2 pound of granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 small lemon (or half a large one)
- A squeeze of lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract (optional)
- A splash of good bourbon (optional, but it really does add lovely depth)
- 1 tablespoon of butter (optional, see notes)
- If using pectin, 1 package of pectin (see notes)
Instructions
- Remove pits from washed cherries (I use my beloved cherry pitter). Chop some or all of them into pieces, you can leave some whole if you’d like...depending on how chunky you want your jam.
- Place the cherries in a medium heavy-bottomed pan and add the sugar. Stir together and let sit for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.
- When ready to cook, turn the heat on and bring to a low boil. If the mixture is starting to foam, your can try to remove some of the foam with a spoon.
- Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes. As you cook, the cherries will become soft and darken in color.
- After the 20 minutes, add the vanilla, almond extract, lemon zest, lemon juice, and bourbon. The mixture should thicken slightly. Go ahead and add the butter (if using) as well and stir it in.
- Let the jam cool for a couple minutes, then pour it into clean jars. Don't overfill them. Place the lids on (I recommend the metal ones for this) and screw on tight, then flip the jars upside down...the heat from the jam helps seal them.
- Once cool, I tend to recommend refrigerating or freezing, though technically they'll be shelf-stable for a couple months. Once you open a jar, keep in the fridge and I recommend using within a month or so.
Notes
- You want roughly a 2:1 fruit-to-sugar ratio. I had 570g (a little over half a pound) of dark sweet cherries, and so used around 280g of sugar (I backed off just a tiny bit because my cherries were quite sweet). It will seem like way too much sugar, but that ratio is really important...if you cut back too much it won't set well (especially if you're not using pectin).
- If using pectin, here are the instructions: mix 1 tablespoon of it with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Add it to the jam towards the end (after about 15 minutes, then cook for the remaining 5 minutes and add the rest of the ingredients like the instructions say.
- You can also do traditional real canning, I just use what I call the European method, which effectively uses the heat of the jam to seal the lids. It's not nearly as shelf-stable so you should take care to use them within a few months.
- I was a bit baffled by the optional butter inclusion. In researching, it seems some older jam recipes include butter when you start cooking the fruit, to reduce foam while cooking. But the instructions here don't call for adding it until the end (to me that's like a lemon curd, where the last-minute butter adds some glossiness/unctuousness). It's not necessary, and also doesn't hurt. Your call 🙂
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What’s the purpose of the optional butter?
I thought it was a little strange too, vs. any other jam I’ve made. My initial assumption was that it’s a bit similar to the role butter plays in a lemon curd, which provides some extra glossiness/thickness at the end, but in doing some googling it appears that many older jam recipes have you add it with the sugar to reduce foaminess while it’s cooking. In that case I didn’t have any issues since my saucepan was plenty large, and you could leave it out with no issues. I’ll add that to the recipe notes as well.