Choke Cherry Jam

One morning while out on the hunt for vintage canning jars we stumbled upon a large choke cherry bush.  Curious and wondering if these plump berries were eatable I moved in for a closer look.  Mom recognized them right away…ah ha…another wild and eatable item we can preserve just growing on the side of the road! 

About a week later we decided to pick some to make jam.  They are still a little under ripe but we just couldn’t wait.  From what I understand you should wait until they have turned from red to black and then patiently wait another week.  While anyone who knows me knows that patients is not my forte.  I’ll let mine stand a few days to ripen after I’ve picked them.

These choke cherries come by their name honestly as one taste of these little things can turn your mouth inside out…but, I just couldn’t help myself.

I spent the better part of an afternoon stemming and washing the berries and Matt made the jam one evening while waiting for me to arrive home from the big city of TO with a special gift for my sister…MOOSEH (her very 1st burmese kitten).  He’s our “canning mascot” on the side bar.   Isn’t he sweet!?!

Helpful Hints:

• When making the Currant Jam it is very easy to over cook and thicken too much because of the high pectin levels.  We figured this would be the same for the Choke Cherry.  However, we did undercook it the first time and after the jars were processed and sealed we realized it did not set up enough.  Simple…just re-cook and re-process.

Put Up Total:

• 6 x 250mL regular mouth jars