If you crave the taste of chokecherries, a simple syrup for canning is a great way to preserve their flavor. You'll see bottles of this ruby nectar in gift shops and gas stations all over the Midwest. Like many things, it's better homemade--no pectin or corn syrup needed. Read on and I'll walk you through my method.
How to Make Chokecherry Juice
Before you make the syrup you'll need to make chokecherry juice by cooking the cherries with liquid and straining. The finished juice can be used to make a syrup, sauce, or chokecherry jelly.
First the cherries are washed, cleaned, and mixed with water and cherry vinegar (or wine vinegar). The cherries are briefly cooked in the liquid, then mashed with a potato masher or a heavy utensil.
After the cherries are crushed they're strained through cheesecloth or a towel and cooled, then squeezed to extract the rest of the juice. Save the leftover pits and pulp to make Fruit Scrap Vinegar.
How to Make Chokecherry Syrup
I make a simple syrup using only equal parts cherry juice and sugar. Although other recipes call for pectin or corn syrup they're unnecessary and can make the syrup too thick.
First, measure the juice, then add sugar in equal volume. Other sweeteners work too. Expect a longer boiling time if you use a liquid sweetener like honey or maple.
The sugar and juice is brought to a rolling boil in a large, wide pot. Once it comes to a boil, cook for 5 minutes, or until it barely leaves a thread drizzled on a plate. I demonstrate this in the video.
When the syrup is finished, it's poured into jars and processed in a water bath. 8-10 minutes is fine for half pint jars which is also a good size for gifts. Label and date the jars and store in a pantry. It lasts for years.
Chef's Tips
- Wait until the chokecherries are black for the best flavor. I like to harvest the first week of august in MN and WI.
- The ultimate version is with chokecherry vinegar and maple sugar.
- Adding orange zest and juice, or lemon zest and juice to taste can be a nice addition.
- Busy foragers can save time by freezing chokecherries raw and making the syrup in the fall or winter.
- Use a 10 inch wide pot to prevent overflowing.
- If you open a jar and the syrup is too thick, add a splash of water, warm it and refill the jar.
How to Use It
Use the syrup in places you'd use maple syrup, or where the flavor of cherries would be good. It loves dairy based desserts, ice cream and yogurt. The vinegar allows it to be useful in both sweet and savory dishes. A few of my favorites are below.
It's great with pork and wild poultry. I also season it with things like fish sauce, dried or fresh hot peppers and herbs to make rich, umami-packed sauces and glazes.
Related Posts
- Cherry Pits: A Traditional Almond Seasoning
- Siberian Bird Cherry Cake
- Sand Cherries (Prunus pumila)
- Chokecherry Jelly
Classic Chokecherry Syrup
Equipment
- 6 Half pint mason jars with lids
- Potato masher
- Waterbath Canner
- 1 wide 10 inch stainless steel pot
- 1 Cheesecloth or towel
- 1 latex gloves optional
Ingredients
- 5 cups fresh chokecherries (roughly 25 oz) to yield 4 cups of juice
- 2 ½ cups water
- ½ cup white wine vinegar rice wine, or homemade cherry vinegar
- 4 cups sugar or maple sugar
Instructions
- Inspect the chokecherries and see if they need to be cleaned or not. If they’re dirty at all, immerse them in tepid water, remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl to dry, and reserve.
- In a non-reactive pot, combine the chokecherries, vinegar and water. You will need roughly an equal amount of liquid to the volume of cherries. Bring the pot to a boil, then remove from heat. Mash the berries with a potato masher or other tool.
- Strain the mixture into a towel or thick cheesecloth over a colander. Cool until you can handle it, then wring out the chokecherry juice. Save or freeze the pits and bits of skin to make fruit scrap vinegar.
- Measure the juice and combine with an equal volume of sugar in a wide pot and bring to a boil. Cook it until it barely coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes.
- Pour the mixture into half pint or pint canning jars and cook in a water bath for 5 minutes or 10 minutes for pints. Chokecherry syrup can also be frozen and will last for years.
Video
Notes
Variations
- A friend from MN recommends putting the cherries through a meat grinder to release more of the almond flavor. It's excellent.
- You can add ginger, lemon or orange zest while extracting the juice from the fruit for different flavors.
- I like to use homemade wild cherry vinegar, but just about any vinegar will work fine.
Renee Sippel-Baker
Alan, Thanks! for all the information and the recipes for Chokecherries and other similar berries!!!
Question: Why do you boil the berries & water for 15-20 minutes for the juice for jelly, yet only bring the mixture to a boil for the juice for syrup???
And, do you vary the boiling time with ground chokecherries versus not ground?
Alan Bergo
Hi Renee. So with jams and jellies we want to activate the natural pectin to help assist in the jelling and setting process. With syrup you want it to stay loose so it’s cooked quickly. I don’t do anything different if I use ground cherries.
Rachael
Delicious yield and easy to follow. I reserved the pit pulp to try fruit vinegar with it.
Definitely recommend puréing the cooked cherry mash - I used a vitamix and strained with cheesecloth. Did not add as much sweetener; got about 4C of juice after straining and added 1.5C agave and 0.5C organic cane sugar. It is so tasty!
Alan Bergo
Hey Rachael, thank you so much for sharing your tweaks, I think people will really find them helpful! You can def cut the sweetener a bit-it’s one reason I add a little vinegar, not only does it add a bright note, but it keeps it shelf stable even if you reduce the sugar. Sometimes I add only maple and cook it down until it thickens-a luxury. I’m going to make a few notes in the recipe from your contribution here. Thanks again for sharing.
Tara
I mistakenly used the measuring cup to do equal amounts liquid and sugar. How badly did I mess up? Can I salvage?
Alan Bergo
It’s no problem at all-totally fine. Proceed.
Tara
The syrup turned out beautifully. I can’t wait to give it as gifts.
Jaye
I ended up using liquid pectin for syrup, after water bath it came out black. Black ad can be. My other jars I used powdered however they didn’t gel up as much and remained purple in color after canning. Any thoughts?
Alan Bergo
Hi Jaye, liquid pectin, and any pectin at all is not part of my recipe here. I've never heard of it turning color and I would throw that jar away.
Gabriella
Hi Alan,
I have made this with lemon juice instead of vinegar, though I used the juice of one lemon vs. 1/2 cup so probably a little less, it was not at all bitter, even after a year. Also when I first foraged for chokecherries years ago, I was busy and made the mistake of freezing them for future use. It did not work out so well. Choke cherries do not freeze well from fresh form. They lose their flavour and colour. It is best to process them quickly. I also did some research on this, and it turns out that they not only lose colour and flavour, they also greatly diminish in nutritional quality, particularly their antioxidant qualities, so freezing is not ideal.
Alan Bergo
Chokecherries freeze perfectly fine and I do it all the time, as do many other foragers. My friend (and foraging author) Hank Shaw just made jelly with frozen ones last week. Idk where you’re getting that from. If you like lemon juice in the recipe that’s your call, just keep in mind it’s not as good or trustworthy for preserving food as vinegar since the pH is variable.
Jo
Hi there Alan,
You said just about any vinegar would work for this syrup, would that include a white or red balsamic? Or would that create a thickening issue?
Cheers - Jo
Alan Bergo
Yes white balsamic is preferable here to keep the color bright, but you can use just about anything.
Laura Leone
I have a question...although I like my cherry flavors to be a bit almondy, I read the pits are toxic...is it safe to grind the cherries down?
"A friend from MN recommends putting the cherries through a meat grinder to release more of the almond flavor. It's excellent."
I see you have addressed the cyanide issue, but that was for mashed cherries.
Alan Bergo
Hi Sandy. It’s completely safe to grind the cherries too. I have a long form essay on this in my book, and online in this post.
Jefferson Heard
How long would it take to denature the amygdalin when using ground cherries in this recipe? Would I need to add extra water and cook longer, or would the recipe work as is?
Alan Bergo
Yes. The boiling is plenty here as it’s strained and you’re not eating the pits. A LOT of people in rural areas process chokecherris using a grinder. Most grinder plates are too large for the stones and only a modest actually get ground when I do it.
Tony
Alan, this looks great! I have loads of chokecherries this year and no more room in my freezer, so I'd like to can a batch of this. I have only one question. In the text description you say "equal parts water and vinegar", but the recipe says "2 ½ cups water
, ½ cup vinegar". That's a big difference. Can you clarify? Thanks!
Alan Bergo
Yes, sometimes I will alter the amount of vinegar. I adjusted the post copy for clarity. Follow the recipe as directed here-1/2 cup is plenty.
Martha
Hi Alan, I made syrup from chokecherries using your recipe that I printed out last week. I think my syrup tastes too vinegar-y. Do you have any suggestion for how I can salvage my syrup? I wanted to give it as gifts but it's not what I had hoped for.
Alan Bergo
Hi Martha, there's a big difference in how the syrup tastes on a spoon compared to how it works when eaten with things. It will definitely taste strong alone, but is very good with yogurt or drizzled over apple crisp, as I'll serve it to 200 people this weekend. If it's too strong for you, you can combine it with another batch. Don't give up on it, it's also great added to drinks and used as a glaze for meat.
Erica
Would it work to replace the vinegar with lemon juice? Thanks in advance, Erica
Alan Bergo
Lemon juice can become bitter when it’s cooked so I wouldn’t recommend that.
Jeannine
Do you know how to make this syrup thicker and not a thin liquid?
Alan Bergo
It's not a thin liquid. Cook it down a little more and reduce it until you like the consistency.
Emma k
I used my wild black cherries and it came out delicious. So far we've had it in drinks with bourbon and on pancakes. Thanks for the recipe.
Marie-France Gobeil
Hi made this recipe last night for the first time but not the last! It is amazing! I have tried a lot of chokecherries gelly recipes over the years but each time I was a bit disappointed with the taste as the flavor of the chokecherries was disapearing in all the other ingredients. This recipe is the best! You can truly enjoy the flavor of the chokecherries, it's simple, easy and quick! It has now officially become a classic in my harvest season recipes! Thank you so much for this gem of a recipe. Can't wait to try the maple sugar version!
Alan Bergo
Glad it worked for you Marie, thanks so much.
Lida
Made this yesterday and it is delicious! I put some in my tea this morning, what a delight.
Alan Bergo
Thanks Lida, glad it worked for you.
Jolee
I made this with pin cherries and chokecherries after we emailed you. We're going to have to make more...the kids like it so much we've been using it to barter with them for chores! Delicious on ice cream, granola, even just off the spoon we've been putting it on everything.
Nancy
This was a simple enough process that I know I’ll be doing it again in future years. The results are delicious enough that I harvested another six cups of wild black cherries and made a second batch. Looking forward to my fruit scrap vinegar too!
Alan Bergo
Hey thanks Nancy I'm so glad it worked for you. I'll be making more soon from sand cherries. My favorite late night treat has been some thick yogurt, a handful of butternuts or black walnuts covered in the stuff.
Ann Marie
I have made chokecherry jelly for many years but I never mashed the berries because the seed contains cyanide. I would cook with water then gently squeeze the berries to get the juice. Have I been wrong all these years? I imagine the amount of juice would increase if I did it your way.
Thanks for sharing.
Alan Bergo
Hey Ann Marie, I'm sorry I was pokey here, I've been moving and my life's been a little crazy. There's no danger of cyanide here for a few reasons. First, it only comes out if you literally crush the shell and stone-which is going to be impossible with a potato masher or a spoon. Even then, cherry stones are safe after processing and can be used to make crazy delicious things like my Siberian Bird Cherry Cake. I explain more in my post "Cherry Pits: A Traditional Almond Seasoning".