Cherry and Sailor Jerry Rum Jam

While it may not seem the season to eat jam on toast and jam related puddings it is the season to make jam. All the excess fruit that we cannot eat right now can be preserved, allowing us to enjoy the last summers bounty all the way through until next summer. Making jam is easier than you think and it allows you to select British local fruit at it’s best to make the finest tasting jam! This recipe is also to mark the start of Talking Pork’s fundraiser, a BBQ food van that will only use the best local produce for seasonal traditional BBQ, but I will talk more about this project later. 

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  What you need:

  • 500g Cherries, stones removed
  • 500g High pectin jam sugar
  • 1 lemon, juice and zest
  • 50ml Sailor Jerry rum (or any spiced rum - I like the vanilla flavour in Sailor J’s)
  • 4 Clean jars with lids

  
  

  How to make it:

  1. Start by removing the stems and stones from the cherries – I found the easiest way to do this was to don a pair of rubber gloves, remove the stem and squeeze the cherry until the stone pops out. You may find this works better on riper fruit, so an alternative is to slice around the cherry, twist until it separates into two halves and remove the stone this way. The gloves are necessary if you are doing a larger batch as the cherries stain your hands.
  2. When you have completed this arduous task quarter the cherries and put them into a large saucepan. Add the zest and juice of the lemon and simmer for about 10 minutes until the cherries soften.
  3. Meanwhile, wash the jars in soapy water, rinse away any suds and place on a baking tray. Put these into a pre-heated oven at around 150°C and keep them in the oven until all moisture has evaporated, leaving the jars sterile (this will take around 10 minutes).
  4. Once the cherries have softened add the jam sugar and stir until you can no longer see the white granules. Turn the heat up and bring to a boil – if you have a sugar thermometer boil until the jam reaches 105°C. You can also check if the jam is at the setting point by spooning a little onto a cold plate (see image VIII) – if it is ready it should set quickly and have a wrinkled surface when pushed with a spoon.
  5. At this point you can throw the rum in – the alcohol will evaporate instantly because of the high temperature (boiling point of ethanol 78 ^oC), leaving a wonderful spiced vanilla smell and flavour. Remove from the heat.
  6. Bring your jars out of the oven and fill a jug with jam. Holding a jar with a tea towel so as not to burn yourself, pour the hot jam into the jar and tightly screw the lid on. Repeat this process until you run out of jam – this amount should roughly fill about 3-4 jam jars, depending on their size. Turn the jars over when you have put the lids on to create a vacuum and thus seal the jars correctly. Let them cool completely.
     
     -Store the sealed jars of jam in a cool dark place. Once opened keep refrigerated.