Celestial Cherry Conserve Recipes

CELESTIAL CHERRY CONSERVE

Steps:

• Grate zest from the oranges; set zest aside. Peel oranges and discard peel; chop the oranges. In a large saucepan, combine cherries, sugar, lemon juice and chopped oranges. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 6-8 minutes or until slightly thickened., Meanwhile, place tea bags in a small bowl. Add boiling water. Cover and steep 5-6 minutes. Discard tea bags; add liquid to cherry mixture. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in pectin. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly., Remove from the heat; skim off foam. Ladle hot mixture into six hot sterilized half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot mixture. Wipe rims. Center lids on jars; screw on bands until fingertip tight. , Place jars into canner with simmering water, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil; process for 5 minutes. Remove jars and cool.

CHERRY CONSERVE

Steps:

• Wash and pit cherries; wash, thinly slice and seed the orange.
• Put cherries and orange slices into preserving kettle and add the lemon juice and sugar.
• Cook the mixture, uncovered, about 45 minutes, stirring frequently until it is thick and transparent.
• Remove from stove.
• Skim off the foam with a metal spoon, then add the nuts and the raisins and cook another 10 minutes.
• Ladle into hot sterilized jars and seal immediately.

BEST CHERRY PRESERVES

Steps:

• Sterilize your jars and keep them hot while you're cooking the preserves.
• Place cherries in a large, heavy duty dutch oven.
• Combine pectin with 1/4 cup sugar; stir into cherries, Add butter.
• Bring to a full boil, stirring, over high heat.
• Add 3 more cups sugar and return to a boil , stirring constantly, boil 1 minutes.
• Remove from heat; skim off foam.
• Immediately spoon preserves into 3 one pint sterilized jars, leaving 1/4" headspace.
• Wipe the sealing surface of the jars with a clean paper towel, dampened with hot water, to remove any preserves or sugar crystals.
• Place lids and screw on bands fingertip tight.
• Process in a boiling water bath for at least ten minutes, depending upon your altitude.
• When the jars have been processed in boiling water for the recommended time, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid; wait 5 minutes. Remove jars from canner using a jar lifter and keeping jars upright. Carefully place them directly onto a towel or cake cooling rack to protect your countertop, leaving at least one inch of space between the jars during cooling. Avoid placing the jars on a cold surface or in a cold draft.
• After jars have cooled undisturbed for 24 hours, remove ring bands from sealed jars. Put any unsealed jars in the refrigerator and use first.

CHERRY PRESERVES

Steps:

• Place a round wire rack in the bottom of a large stockpot. The rack should fit as snugly as possible and should stand 1/2 to 1 inch above the bottom of the pot. Stand the four jars on the rack, and add the lids; it's not necessary to add the screw bands. Fill pot with enough water to cover jars by 1 to 2 inches; an additional 1 to 2 inches of space should remain below the rim of the pot so the water doesn't overflow. Bring water to a simmer (180 degrees) let lids and jars simmer 10 minutes or until you're ready to fill them. Place four small plates in the freezer.
• In a medium stockpot, combine the cherries, 1/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice; place over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar has dissolved, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in one-third of the remaining sugar, and cook, stirring, until it has dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the sugar in two more batches, stirring each batch until sugar has dissolved.
• Bring the mixture to a full boil, and cook, stirring frequently, 10 minutes. Place a candy thermometer in mixture, and cook, stirring frequently, until temperature registers 220 degrees. 30 to 40 minutes. While cooking, skim any foam that floats to the surface.
• With the temperature at 220 degrees, perform a gel test: Remove one of the plates from the freezer, and place a spoonful of the jam on it. Return the plate to freezer, and wait 1 minute. Remove plate from freezer, and gently nudge the edge of the jam with one finger. If the jam is ready, it will wrinkle slightly when pushed. If it is not ready, it will be too thin to wrinkle. If the jam does not wrinkle on the first attempt, cook 2 or 3 minutes more, and repeat the gel test.
• Once the jam has gelled properly, remove stockpot from heat. Using canning tongs, remove a jar from the simmering water, and empty the water back into the stockpot. Place the jar on a clean surface, and insert a canning funnel. Using a ladle, pour the jam through the funnel into the jar; fill to within 1/4 inch of the rim. Remove the funnel; wipe the rim with a clean damp towel. Using the tongs, lift a lid from the hot water; place lid, sealant side down, on the filled jar. Screw down the band, and tighten firmly, being careful not to force it. With the tongs, stand filled jar in simmering water. Repeat with the remaining jam and jars, making sure jars aren't touching sides of pot and are spaced 1 inch apart.
• Raise the heat to high, cover stockpot, and bring water to a boil. Process jars in boiling water for 10 minutes. Using tongs, transfer jars to a wire rack to cool completely. Store jam in a cool, dark place up to 1 year.

SWEET CHERRY AND LEMON CONSERVE

Steps:

• Place a clean plate in your freezer.
• Pit and halve cherries, reserving juice. Cherries and juice together should make about 3 packed cups.
• Juice the lemon. You should have about 3 tablespoons. Cut membrane away from lemon peel and discard membrane. Slice peel (zest and pith) very finely - slices should be approximately 1/16-inch thick and 3/4-inch long. You should have about 1/2 cup peel.
• Combine cherries and their juice, lemon juice, peel, and sugar in a nonreactive bowl. Stir, and let stand at room temperature 1 hour.
• Pour mixture into a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan or preserving kettle. (To allow space for foaming as mixture boils, ingredients should take up no more than 1/3 of volume of saucepan.)
• Bring mixture to boil over medium heat. Boil, uncovered, 15 minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon to minimize foaming.
• When reduced by almost half (foam will disappear and small, clear bubbles will form), remove plate from freezer and place a teaspoon of conserve on surface of plate. Allow to cool 1 minute, then test consistency with your finger, and taste. If conserve has a thick, syrupy consistency, it's done. If it doesn't, boil for a few minutes more and repeat cold plate test, continuing until desired consistency is achieved.
• Immediately after turning off heat, use a ladle and funnel to carefully fill canning jars with hot conserve. Wip lip of each jar to remove any stickiness. Top with lids and screw bands, then use pot holder or dry kitchen towel to hold jars while twisting screw bands closed.
• Immediately invert jars and place them upside-down on counter. After five minutes, return jars to right-side up. Allow to cool and thicken overnight.

CHERRY & CINNAMON CONSERVE

Steps:

• Put a couple of saucers into the freezer. Roughly chop about a third of the cherries. Put into a large pan with the cinnamon stick, broken in half, the lemon zest and juice and 150ml water. Bring gently to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 mins, stirring occasionally, until cherries are softened.
• Add the sugar, stir until dissolved, then increase the heat and boil hard for 4-5 mins until the conserve is softly set. To test this, take a saucer from the freezer and spoon a little jam onto it. Push your finger through the jam; if it wrinkles on the surface it is ready. If not, reboil for a few mins more, then test again. Spoon into small clean warm jars, seal and label. Once open, keep in the fridge.

SOUR CHERRY PRESERVES

Steps:

• Toss together cherries, sugar, and lemon juice in a large bowl.
• Wrap cherry pits in a paper towel and crack them with a rolling pin or pestle just enough to extract inner white kernels. Discard outer shells and tie white kernels in a cheesecloth bag. Stir bag into cherry mixture and chill, covered, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.
• Sterilize jars and lids .
• Pour cherries with liquid and cheesecloth bag into a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot (sugar will not be completely dissolved). Bring to a rolling boil over moderate heat, then boil, uncovered, stirring frequently, 5 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer cherries with a slotted spoon to a sieve set over a bowl to catch juice. Drain cherries 5 minutes, then add juice from bowl to juice in pot.
• Drain jars upside down on a clean kitchen towel 1 minute, then invert. Divide cherries among jars using a slotted spoon.
• Return juice in pot to a rolling boil, skimming off any foam. Continue boiling until juice registers 220 to 224°F on thermometer, 7 to 10 minutes. Discard cheesecloth bag.
• Gradually add pectin, whisking constantly. Return juice to a rolling boil, then boil, skimming off any foam, 1 minute. Ladle juice into jars, leaving 1/4 inch of space at top, then run a thin knife between fruit and jar to eliminate air bubbles.
• Seal, process, and store filled jars , boiling preserves in jars 10 minutes.
• Let preserves stand in jars at least 1 day for flavors to develop.

PRESERVED CHERRIES

Steps:

• Inspect 8 half-pint jars for cracks and rings for rust, discarding any defective ones. Immerse in simmering water for 10 minutes to sterilize. Wash new, unused lids and rings in warm soapy water.
• Fill sterilized jars with cherries up to the "neck" of the jar.
• Pour water into a large pan and bring to a boil. Add sugar and keep boiling until sugar dissolves. Pour hot simple syrup over cherries into the jars up to 1/8-inch from the top. Run a clean knife or thin spatula around the insides of the jars to remove any air bubbles. Wipe rims with a moist paper towel to remove any spills. Top with lids and tightly screw on rings.
• Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with water. Bring to a boil and lower jars 2 inches apart into the boiling water using a holder. Pour in more boiling water to cover jars by at least 1 inch. Bring to a rolling boil, cover, and process for 20 minutes.
• Remove the jars from the stockpot and place onto a cloth-covered or wood surface, several inches apart. Let rest for 24 hours without moving the jars. Gently press the center of each lid with a finger to ensure the lid does not move up or down. Remove the rings for storage and store in a cool, dark area.

PEAR CONSERVE WITH CHERRIES AND HAZELNUTS

Steps:

• Peel, core, and cut pears into 1/2 inch cubes. There should be about 4 cups of fruit.
• Combine pears, dried cherries, vinegar, sugar, ginger, pepper, and salt in a heavy large saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat, and cool to room temperature. Cover, and refrigerate overnight. Can be prepared 4 days ahead.
• Toast hazelnuts at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) on an ungreased baking sheet for 5 to 8 minutes. Husk the nuts, and chop coarsely. Stir into pear conserve. Serve at room temperature.

SOUR CHERRY CONSERVE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine cherries, sugar, lemon juice, and 2 cups water; bring to a boil over high heat.
• Reduce heat; cook until syrup has thickened slightly, about 35 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to a container; let cool completely before placing in refrigerator.