With its gorgeous red color and a taste of days gone by, a classic chokecherry jelly recipe needs to be in every forager's repertoire. This is a family recipe made how my friends Grandma did after she'd pick cherries in Northern Minnesota. It's the best because of the special way the cherries are crushed to make chokecherry juice. Read on and I'll share the secret.
![Choke cherry jelly spread on an English muffin next to a jar of jelly and a bowl of wild cherries.](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Chokecherry-Jelly-29.jpg)
Lots of different cherries can be used here. Two wild cherries that ripen after chokecherries (Prunus Virginiana) are sand cherries (Prunus pumila) and black cherries (Prunus serotina). Both of those can be substituted here, along with similar wild cherries like Prunus avium.
![Pin cherries, choke cherries and sand cherries in bowls.](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/PIn-cherry-sand-cherry-chokecherry-3.jpg)
Pin cherries (Prunus pensylvanica) are a little different as they're tiny and have a high amount of pit compared to juice.
When Are Chokecherries Ripe?
One of the most important things is making sure your wild cherries are ripe. Choke cherries are ripe when they're completely black-not red. This can be confusing if you're new to foraging wild cherries.
![A large amount of ripe chokecherries mixed with leaves.](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Chokecherries-2021-2.jpg)
It can also be confusing as some cherries will ripen unevenly on the tree due to different circumstances such as how much sun they get.
How to Make Chokecherry Jelly
The first step to making choke cherry jelly is to make wild cherry juice. You'll need about 2 lbs of wild cherries to make a decent batch of jelly. The juice is made by mixing the cherries with water and cooking them.
I crush my cherries by putting them through a meat grinder like Grandma did, but you can put them in a pot with water to cover if you want. A few stones will get crushed this way, giving the jelly a subtle hint of almond extract.
![Crushing chokecherries by passing through a meat grinder.](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Chokecherry-Jelly-3.jpg)
To make the juice, mix the cherries with water to cover and bring them to a simmer.
![Adding crushed wild cherries to a pot.](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/How-to-Make-Chookecherry-Jelly-6.jpg)
![Adding water to crushed wild cherries in a pot.](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/How-to-Make-Chookecherry-Jelly-7.jpg)
![Cooking wild cherries in water to make chokecherry juice.](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Chokecherry-Jelly-4.jpg)
After twenty minutes, the cherries are strained and the juice is allowed to cool. I like to squeeze the extra juice from the fruit.
![Straining cooked wild cherries through cheesecloth.](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Chokecherry-Jelly-5.jpg)
![Squeezing chokecherry juice from cooked cherries in cheesecloth.](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Chokecherry-Jelly-1.jpg)
![Mixing pectin with sugar in a bowl.](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Chokecherry-Jelly.jpg)
When the juice is cool it's mixed with sugar and apple pectin. I like to use Cuisine Tech Pectin, but any powdered apple pectin will work. The sugar-juice mixture is brought to a boil.
While the juice boils, it's important to skim any impurities from the surface. You can also add a knob of butter to prevent foaming and creeping up the sides of the pan.
![](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Chokecherry-Jelly-2.jpg)
![](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Chokecherry-Jelly-3-1.jpg)
![Adding a knob of butter to a pot of cooking jelly to prevent overflowing.](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/How-to-Make-Chookecherry-Jelly-1.jpg)
Once the juice starts to hover around 220 F it's time to do set tests. Spoon a teaspoon of jelly onto a small metal pie plate or something similar held over a bowl of ice.
![Small spoonfuls of jelly on a chilled plate showing the temperature when jelly sets.](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Chokecherry-Jelly-10-1.jpg)
Once the jelly passes the set test and is around the correct temperature, turn the heat off and add the lemon juice.
![Adding lemon juice to a pot of jelly cooking.](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/How-to-Make-Chookecherry-Jelly-3.jpg)
![](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/How-to-Make-Chookecherry-Jelly-5.jpg)
Then the jelly is poured into clean mason jars. From here it can be stored in the fridge for a month, or the jars can be processed in a water bath for long term storage.
Canning Chokecherry Jelly
The canning process is the same for other preserves. Wipe the rims of the jars clean and screw on the lids.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. It's important that there's enough water to cover the jars by 2 inches. Add the jars to the boiling water, put on a lid and set a timer for 10 minutes.
![Adding jars of jam to boiling water in a water bath canner.](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/How-to-make-blackcurrant-jam_-11.jpg)
After ten minutes, remove the hot jars using tongs and allow them to cool on a counter. Finally, label and date the jars and store them in a pantry.
![Jars of currant jam being removed from a water bath canner to cool.](https://foragerchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Black-Currant-Jam-1.jpg)
More Wild Fruit Preserves
Classic Chokecherry Jelly
Equipment
- 1 Large pot or water bath canner for canning, optional
- 1 Metal pie plate over a bowl of ice for doing set tests, optional
- 4 half pint mason jars
- 1 4 quart non-reactive cooking pot such as stainless steel
- 1 Meat Grinder For grinding the cherries, optional
- 1 Strainer or colander
- 1 2ft x 2 ft piece of cheesecloth or a jelly bag
Ingredients
Classic Jelly
- 2 lbs Ripe chokecherries or 4 cups chokecherry juice Equal to 6.5-7 cups fresh or frozen wild cherries,
- 4 cups sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 4 teaspoons Apple pectin powdered
- 4 teaspoons Lemon juice
Cherry Pepper Jelly
- 2 Habanero peppers seeded and finely chopped, optional
Instructions
Make the Chokecherry Juice
- Wash and clean the cherries if needed.
- Grind the cherries in a meat grinder or mash them with a mallet, etc.
- Combine the cherries and water in a tall 4 qt cooking pot.
- Bring the cherries to a simmer over high heat. Turn the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, put the pectin in a bowl, add sugar, salt, and mix well.
- Strain the chokecherry juice, squeezing the juice from the cheesecloth to get as much juice as possible. You can dehydrate the pits and flesh if you like.
Make the Jelly
- Cool the cherry juice, then combine with the pectin-sugar mixture in the 4 qt pot. If you want to make pepper jelly, add the peppers now.
- Bring the cherry juice mixture to a full rolling boil. Make sure to skim impurities from the top as they appear.
- Add the butter if using to help prevent foaming and overflowing.
- Cook the jelly until it reaches 220F on a thermometer.
- When the mixture hovers around 220F begin doing set tests, spooning a teaspoon at a time onto a frozen plate, like a thin pie tin held over a bowl of ice.
- When the mixture holds its shape and shows threading and beading (watch the video for a close up shot) remove from heat, beat in the lemon juice and pour the jelly into jars leaving ½ inch headspace at the top.
- Wipe the rims of the jars and screw on the lids.
Canning the jelly
- Prepare a water bath canner. Bring a large pot of water to a boil filled with enough water that the jars will be covered by at least 2 inches.
- Put a lid on the pot and boil the jars for 10 minutes or the recommended time for half pint jars according to your elevation relative to sea level.
- Remove the jars from the water bath, label, date, and store in a pantry. Any jars that don't seal should be refrigerated.
Heather F
Hey, I'm hoping you can help me get to the bottom of a chokecherry street tree id question. After making several of the (excellent!) recipes from your book with Black cherry/Prunus serotina (the bird cherry cake, the gastrique, the extract- all fab) I've been on the lookout for all the local cherries I could use. I'm in NYC and the Parks department has an official map identifying all of the street trees, so I was excited to notice a couple of trees marked as "Canada Red" chokecherry/Prunus virginiana. It has what I think of as Prunus family bark, and in the spring the leaves were green, with beautifully fragrant flowers on racemes that flowered a few weeks before the local black cherries, and then the leaves slowly changed to purple and eventually black fruit appeared (fruit that's roughly the color and size of a black cherry, maybe the tiniest bit larger). I've never tasted a chokecherry, but after looking at many different resources, I felt pretty confident that the tree was accurately labeled, and after a small taste of the fruit I can say it tastes astringent like I've seen it described.
Now for the wrinkle- an identical tree on the other side of the neighborhood is labeled as Purple-leaf Plum/Prunus cerasifera, and on both trees, the fruit itself is black outside but green inside. The fruit is much smaller than any of the Prunus cerasifera images online, regular sweet cherries, or any wild plum I've ever encountered (mostly beach plums, Prunus maritima) or read about, and has "cherry" vibes much more than "plum" vibes, if that makes any sense. I unfortunately didn't see this tree while it was flowering which theoretically would id it definitively. At first I assumed that the Purple-leaf Plum was the one that was mislabeled, but the green interior gave me pause because I couldn't find a picture of a chokecherry with a green interior anywhere I looked online. Do you have any thoughts (or resources you'd suggest for me to investigate further)? Thanks so much!
Alan Bergo
Sorry I don’t know here, I haven’t come across those.
Jennifer Rodriguez
My Canada Red Chokecherries have a green interior with black exterior and the pit is a light greenish-beige. 🙂
Jason
Alan, in the recipe you mention dehydrating the flesh and pits. What would you use them for once dehydrated?
Alan Bergo
Hey Jason, refer to my piece on cherry pits here. They make an awesome extract, crushed and mixed with brandy.