Homemade Bourbon Cherry Jam

Fresh cherry season deserves to be celebrated with beautiful, homemade cherry jam! This easy cherry jam recipe makes the most delicious cherry preserves, made from fresh sweet black cherries, with a hint of lemon, vanilla and bourbon. Give some jam away as gifts, or just put the jars away for an incredible taste of summer to last you through the winter until next season!

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Why You’ll Love This Jam

Easy and Versatile. This is a quick recipe to make, especially if you start with pitted cherries, and it cooks in no time. You can use homemade cherry jam so many ways. Besides just spreading it on toast or flaky biscuits, use it as a filling for chocolate cherry cupcakes, swirl it into yogurt or ice cream, or used the jam as a filling in homemade pop tarts.

Preserves the Fresh Flavors of Summer. Stone fruit season is short, and I love to make the most of it by cooking and baking as much as I can with peaches, cherries and apricots. And as someone who makes a LOT of homemade jam every year, I can tell you that there’s just no comparison to the corn syrup laden jams at the grocery store.

Long Shelf Life. If I’m planning on gifting jars of jam that are going to be stored at room temperature (like in a pantry), then I will always process the jars in a water bath to make sure the jars are sealed. This preserves the jam for 1-2 years so it doesn’t spoil. But for jam that my own family will be eating, I simply fill my jars with hot jam, screw on the lids, cool to room temperature, and then store them in my freezer. If you have the freezer space, this is a great option for keeping the jam fresh, without needing to bother with the canning process. By the time next summer rolls around, we’re usually finishing the last few jars of jam from the freezer, and it’s time to make more.

TIP: A combination of sweet and tart cherries makes the most delicious cherry jam, with a wonderful depth of flavors.

Ingredients

• Cherries. Either frozen or fresh cherries work great for making homemade cherry jam. Be sure that the cherries are pitted before you cook your jam!
• Lemon Juice. The lemon juice adds tartness, to balance the sugar, but it also adds acidity and natural pectin, which helps to “set” your homemade jam.
• Vanilla Extract + Bourbon. A splash of vanilla and bourbon is optional, but they add the most wonderful flavor that’s smooth and delicious.
• Pectin. For this recipe (and all of my homemade jam recipes), I use powdered “classic” pectin, preferably the Ball brand. I can’t guarantee the results if you use freezer or low-sugar pectins, which give jam a different texture and flavor that I don’t care for.
• Granulated Sugar. Not only does the sugar add sweetness, but it preserves the fruit as well, so reducing the sugar will also reduce the jam’s shelf life.  If you plan to only make a small batch and eat it quickly, then by all means feel free to reduce the sugar if you feel so inclined.
• Butter. The fat in a small amount of butter helps to reduce any foam that gathers on top of the jam while cooking, so that your jam has a pretty, clear color.

Instructions

• First, make sure your jam jars, lids and rings are clean and sterilized. You can sterilize them in the dishwasher, or by boiling them for a few minutes in a large stock pot.
• Wash and pit the cherries, if they’re not already pitted. Combine the pitted cherries in a stock pot with the lemon juice, vanilla and bourbon.
• Bring the cherries to a simmer over medium heat. Mash the cherries slightly, leaving the fruit as chunky as you’d like.
• Sprinkle the pectin over the fruit and stir it in.  Increase heat to medium/high and stir constantly (while wearing oven mitts to protect against splatter burns), and bring to a boil. 
• Dump all the sugar in at once.  Continue stirring constantly to return to a vigorous boil that can’t be stirred down. Boil hard while stirring for 1 minute.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the butter (the fat helps to reduce any foaminess).
• Immediately ladle the jam into hot, sterilized jars, leaving a 1/4 inch gap at the top (called “head space”) to allow for expansion. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean damp cloth. Center the lids on the jars, and screw on the lids “fingertip tight”.

Storing and Preserving

• Refrigerate for Immediate Consumption:  For jam that you’ll be consuming within 1-2 months, you can simply store the jars in the refrigerator, and the sugar helps to keep the jam from spoiling.
• Can in a Water Bath for Longer Preservation:  If you’re planning on storing the jam in your pantry or giving jars away as gifts, you should process the hot jars of jam in a water bath according to standard canning procedures to seal the lids.  Simply turning the hot jars upside down will not properly seal the lids and could lead to bacterial contamination.
• Freeze the Jam:  An easy way to store jam for personal consumption is simply to let the jars cool for a few hours and then place them in the freezer.  If you have the freezer space, this is a great way to preserve the jam.  Every spring and summer, I make large batches of jam, and then freeze the filled jars to enjoy throughout the year.  Thaw frozen jars of jam overnight in the refrigerator before using.

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of cherries should I use?

During cherry season, I love to pick up a few pounds of fresh cherries for cherry jam, and my grocery store usually carries sweet black cherries or Bing cherries. It takes a little time to pit them, but their flavor is just so good. But frozen pitted cherries are also fantastic! With frozen cherries, you’ll usually get a mix of sweet and tart cherries which gives your jam a wonderful depth of flavor.

Do I need a cherry pitter?

A cherry pitter is such a handy little tool, since it makes quick work of pitting fresh cherries. If you bake with a lot of fresh cherries, you should definitely have one on hand. They seem prone to breaking, though, and I’ve broken 2 or 3 of them over the years. Without a cherry pitter, you can still easily pit your cherries, although it will take longer. Simply use a small paring knife to cut around the pit, cutting the cherry in half, much like you would cut a freestone peach. Then, gently twist the two halves, pulling one half of the cherry off the pit. Use your knife to cut the pit out of the other half. I’ve also tried a method of using a metal straw to poke the pit through the cherry, but honestly, I thought this was more tedious than just using my paring knife to do the job.

How much jam does this recipe make?

You’ll get about 4 – 4 1/4 cups of jam (enough for 4 “half-pint” jars).

How do I make a small batch for just 1 jar of jam?

You can easily cut the recipe down to 1/4 to make a single jar of jam. This recipe can also be doubled for a big batch.

What kind of jam jars should I use?

Most often, I use these 8-ounce Quilted Jelly Jars. You can process them in a water bath to seal the lids, as well as store them in the freezer. I like that they’re sturdy and don’t break easily. They’re also available at most major grocery stores on or near the baking aisle.

There are so many pretty jars available, though. I love the shape of these hexagon jars and and these tulip-shaped Weck jars.

Are cherries high in natural pectin?

No, cherries are not high in pectin. Pears, apples, oranges and other citrus fruits contain large amounts of pectin, while soft fruits, like cherries, grapes, and strawberries, are low in pectin, which means they’ll need some additional pectin to help thicken and set the jam.

What kind of pectin should I use for thickening jam?

I only use classic pectin, which comes in powdered form.

There are many types of pectin available, in powdered and liquid form. Some are labeled as “low-sugar” or “freezer” pectins. I haven’t had good experiences with either of these types of pectin. The freezer pectin in particular, which supposedly doesn’t require cooking the fruit, resulted in a jam with a very odd flavor and texture that I disliked.

Do I need to use pectin when making homemade jam?

First, what is pectin?  Pectin is a type of starch that’s found naturally in the cell walls of fruits and vegetables.  Some fruits are higher in pectin than others, so the amount of pectin called for in a jam recipe will vary greatly, depending on the fruit.  Pectin is available commercially in powdered and liquid form, and when combined with sugar and acid, pectin is what causes jam to gel.

Now, if you prefer to not use pectin in your jam, you have a couple of options for thickening the jam without pectin. Without a thickening agent, you’ll need to simmer the fruit on the stove for a much longer time, letting the liquid reduce down and concentrate until the jam is the thickness and consistency that you like.  I’ve done this many times – usually when I happen to be out of pectin and can’t be bothered with a trip to the grocery store. While still delicious, no-pectin jam tends to result in a softer set, runnier jam than the gelled consistency we’re used to from store-bought jam.

Another option is to add a small amount of fruit that’s high in pectin (such as a green apple), to contribute natural pectin to the jam.  Peel and finely dice the apple (so that you don’t get large visible chunks of apple in your jam), and add it to the saucepan to simmer with the fruit.  The apple won’t alter the flavor of your jam very much, and should help it to thicken and set. Citrus fruits, especially lemons, are extremely high in natural pectin, so in my lemon marmalade recipe, no pectin is needed and the marmalade still sets with a very thick consistency.

Does jam thicken as it cools?

Yes, jam will be quite runny when it’s hot, and then will thicken and set as it cools. Sometimes it can take 24-48 hours for the pectin to fully set. If you want to make sure your jam sets properly before you portion it into jars, spoon a small amount of hot jam on a plate, and place in the freezer for several minutes, just until chilled, but not frozen. If the jam is thick and jellied, not watery, then it’s set and ready to be stored.

What’s the best way to store and preserve homemade jam?

Refrigerate for Immediate Consumption:  For jam that you’ll be consuming within 1-2 months, you can simply store the jars in the refrigerator, and the sugar helps to keep the jam from spoiling.

Can in a Water Bath for Longer Preservation:  If you’re planning on storing the jam in your pantry or giving jars away as gifts, you should process the hot jars of jam in a water bath according to standard canning procedures to seal the lids.  Simply turning the hot jars upside down will not properly seal the lids and could lead to bacterial contamination.

Freeze the Jam:  An easy way to store jam for personal consumption is simply to let the jars cool for a few hours and then place them in the freezer.  If you have the freezer space, this is a great way to preserve the jam.  Every spring and summer, I make large batches of jam, and then freeze the filled jars to enjoy throughout the year.  Thaw frozen jars of jam overnight in the refrigerator before using.

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