Sour cherries are my most favorite fruit and sour cherry jam is the one jam that I am truly addicted to. I fondly remember picking cherries as a kid, which my mother packed into jars and preserved for pies in the winter. Cherry pie is also my favorite pie, in case anyone wants to make me one.
Several years ago my partner Christopher gave me a North Star sour cherry tree for my birthday. We planted it in the front yard. This year the tree produced 3 quarts of cherries. My daughter Claire helped me pick them. After a bloody mess pitting them, I turned the cherries into sour cherry jam and cherry pit vodka. Gosh I love urban agriculture!
For added flavor I dumped a bottle of circa 1970’s German Kirschwasser, or Cherry Brandy, from Christopher’s mother’s well-aged bar. It was like cherry white lightning. Ka pow! While the alchohol boils off in the jam cooking process, the intense cherry flavor remains, adding extra depth to already amazing jam.
I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how to enjoy cherry jam. I don’t eat toast much these days but I will definitely make an exception for this jam. I also enjoy this jam on ice cream, in my whole milk yogurt, and slathered over goat cheese with crackers. Sorry family, but this jam will not make it into your Christmas stocking. It will be gone by then. Deal with it.
