A simple preserves of aronia berries or chokeberries (Aronia melanocarpa) you can make that actually tastes good. If you've tried to make preserves from this fruit in the past and thought it tasted terrible and astringent, this is the recipe you've been looking for.
Why This Recipe Works
Aronia juice has neither rich flavor or natural pectin. Here I help the flavor by adding citrus zest and spices. Texture and a little natural pectin come from the secret ingredient: apple sauce.
Commercial Aronia Juice
Since the skin and flesh of chokeberries / Aronia melanocarpa are more tannic than other berries, they're usually just processed into juice or jelly, and most of the time that's how you'll see them sold commercially, or online.
If you haven't ever looked, go look at some products, especially the price tag (30$/12oz of juice!) then come back here, maybe after checking around for a local nursery that can supply you saplings to plant in your yard and avoid being robbed at gunpoint for what amounts to fruit juice.
Anyway you cut it, anything made from aronia juice is expensive. I prefer to forage mine for free, instead of paying 30$ for under 2 cups of juice.
How to Make It
First the aronia berries are cooked with water and mashed to make aronia juice. The juice is strained and allowed to cool.
Next the sugar is mixed with unsweetened pectin. You'll zest an orange and a lemon too.
The aronia juice, sugar-pectin mixture and apple sauce and are mixed, along with some citrus zest and a pinch of cinnamon.
The juice is brought to a boil. When the mixture holds its shape when it's dropped on a chilled plate and the temperature is right around 220 F (about 10 minutes of boiling) it's done. Beat in the lemon juice, pour the preserve into canning jars and process in a water bath.
How to Use it
It's great on toast but can also be used to add color and flavor to desserts like a mousse or fruit filling.
One of my favorites you could try is something like an aronia fool , which you could make by whisking the preserves into warm cream with some breadcrumbs or sponge cake, mashing it up, then whipping, and chilling--It's a bit like a chilled fruity mousse.
I've put some spices in this (orange, lemon and a pinch of cinnamon) as the flavor of aronia is mild and slightly astringent-it benefits from some background flavors. But, if blank slate is the way you roll, it's fine with just vinegar, sugar, berries, pectin and water.
I often cook with preserves like this, especially if there's game in the freezer that might benefit from a glaze, mixing the preserves with warm stock, butter, a splash of red wine vinegar, and a good pinch of cayenne. Duck, goose, and grouse are the best partners I've used it with.
Simple Chokeberry or Aronia Berry Preserves
Equipment
- 1 1 gallon pot
- 1 grater or zester
- 1 hand blender optional
- 4 half pint canning jars
Ingredients
- 1 lb (~ 3 cups) aronia berries / chokeberries either fresh or frozen
- 16 oz water
- 2 oz red wine vinegar or homemade vinegar
- Zest of half a lemon and orange
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice or ¼ teaspoon citric acid
- 16 oz (2 cups) apple sauce preferably homemade
- 4 teaspoons unsweetened apple pectin such as Cuisine Tech brand
- 24 oz (3 cups) sugar
- Tiny pinch kosher salt
- 1 tiny pinch Cinnamon ⅛th teaspoon
Instructions
- Cover the aronia berries with water to clean them, then drain. Combine the aronia berries with the water and vinegar and bring to a boil, then turn the heat off. Mash the berries and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, mix the sugar, salt and pectin.
- Strain the juice from the aronia berries. Discard the berries or save them to make fruit scrap vinegar.
- Mix the apple sauce and aronia juice, then whisk in the pectin, cinnamon, lemon and orange zest. For a silky smooth preserve, you can puree it now with a hand blender.
- Bring the mixture to a rolling boil and cook until the temperature hovers around 220 F. It should take around 10-15 minutes at a rolling boil, on high heat.
- Do set tests occasionally by dropping ½ teaspoons of the aronia-apple liquid onto a chilled plate over a bowl of ice.
- When the mixture doesn’t run like water and threatens to hold it’s shape it’s done. Whisk in the lemon juice and divide the mixture between four 8 oz canning jars.
- Process the preserves in a water bath for 10 minutes, then store in a pantry.
Shelley
Do you think dried berries would work with this recipe?
Alan Bergo
Possibly.
Elena
Hello, I'm making this recipe this weekend and noticed that in the video you add orange juice...I don't see that in the written recipe. How much should be added? Thanks!
Alan Bergo
Some orange zest. It's optional. You could add a splash of juice during cooking if you want, a tbsp or so. The zest is the magic-just a little bit.
Elena
Thanks! Also sorry, I just noticed that the recipe instructions mention cinnamon but the ingredient list doesn't; how much cinnamon? Yes, I'm not great at "winging it" I like to follow the recipe directions as written.
Thanks!
Alan Bergo
just a tiny pinch. It's optional. 1/8th tsp or so.
Lori
I make jam with a chokecharry, juneberry, and elderberry mix, sometimes all three, sometimes just two of the three. It depends on how much of each I collect. I put the fruit through the food mill after cooking enough to soften and it turns out lovely. I haven't noticed any unpleasant astringency. Of course, I get the chokecherries from the same 2 trees every year so could it be the variety? I don't know.
Alan Bergo
Hey Lori. If you're mixing different fruit with the aronia it's less of an issue.
Tiffany Raines
Chokecherry and chokeberry (aronia) are two different fruits 🙂
Richard Stevens
I experimented with some aronia berries this year and did notice the effect that if you cook them they become more astringent. However, I didn't find it that off putting. The astringency is nothing compared to an unripe persimmon. I made a heated syrup from the berries (astringency included) and it was amazing. I plan on collecting a lot more berries this season to try wine. Those tannins I think would be amazing.
Alan Bergo
Oh sure, the astringency in a syrup is tolerable and can be interesting. I should probably emphasize the texture of the berries themselves is what turns most people off.
Richard Stevens
I thought you didn't want to cook the berries because it became too tannic. (https://foragerchef.com/wild-berry-cider/). I guess it's all in the skins?
Alan Bergo
Hi Richard. With something like this jelly you have to cook it. If you didn't it would be like making water jelly. Cooking the fruit brings out the rich color. The tannins aren't as noticeable in the finished product. As you mentioned, yes, the texture of the fruit is unpleasant, so that's really the most important thing to know. With the cider, it's fine to just puree them and it won't impart any tannins at all. Hope that helps.
Lana
The best tasting juice you will get from pressing fresh Aronia berries! I have steam-juiced them before and the juice was very unpleasant to drink. This year I was lucky to go to the Aronia farm where they offered to press the juice from the berries you picked. That juice was amazing! Sweet and very tasty! From 5 gallons of berries you can get about a gallon of juice.
Barb
Loved it. I've tried to make jams with them before but the texture of the berries isn't pleasant. Adding apple sauce for a little texture like you did here is really creative.
Steph
This was great. I know some people say to do the aromia juice cold but wow cooking it makes the colour incredible. Thanks for another great one chef!
JP
Recipe works fine but I was a little skeptical on the low-ish amount of sugar setting the pectin. I stand corrected. The "rustic" approach of using whole aronia comes out kind of gritty so I enjoyed the texture of this, and the color.
Kt
So glad I found your website. Thank you 🖤🖤
Alan Bergo
Thanks Kt
Grace Copplestone
Hello from the Netherlands! We’ve got 2kg of appelbessen (translates to apple berries = chokeberries) and we’re planning to use this recipe for jam which will only be put on toast and in yogurt. For this, the vinegar seems like an odd addition, would it still work and be more toast-suitable without the vinegar? Thanks!
Alan Bergo
Hi Grace. I'm in the process of reworking this recipe as it needs some tweaks. I'd try another project with them, I should have the new version up in a month.
Diana S McCall
Hi Alan!
I made your original version of this recipe last year and loved it. Do you still have the original recipe on your site somewhere?
Alan Bergo
I'll check for you hang tight.
Alan Bergo
Here it is.
Simple Chokeberry Preserves
This is not thick, stiff jam, this is a semi-loose, rustic preserve. In a restaurant, I would pass through a chinois while hot, at home, I can deal with a little texture. Makes about 2.5 cups rustic preserves, or 2 cups passed through a strainer.
Ingredients
• 3 cups chokeberries, washed and cleaned if needed
• Water, to cover the berries
• 2 qt saucepot, preferably 8 inch diameter
• 12 oz sugar
• 1 Tablespoon powdered pectin (optional)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar (lemon juice can be used in a pinch)
• 10 grams (1 teaspoon) grated ginger, and it’s juice (optional)
• Finely grated (microplaned) zest of half a large orange (optional)
Method
Mix the sugar and pectin. Put the chokeberries and grated ginger in a tall saucepot (you don’t want this splattering around so use a deep, tall saucepot) and add water just to barely cover them. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then transfer to a blender and process until as smooth as possible. If I want a refined puree, I’ll pass it through a chinois strainer to catch the small pieces of skin that may still be in the chokecherry coulis, but at home, I may leave them in for a more rustic look and texture. If you don’t strain the mixture, you should have about 24 oz (3 cups) of coulis. Pour the mixture back into the pot, add the pectin-sugar mixture, and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Continue cooking on high heat until the mixture reaches 220 F on a candy thermometer. The temperature (and looser than average set it makes) ensures the chokeberry preserves are a little rustic, and retain the ripe berry flavor that can get tainted from caramelization that comes from cooking to higher temps to get a firm, superball-set that can plague small batch jams. Turn the heat off and stir in the vinegar or lemon juice, then pack into half pint or pint jars and process in a water bath (10 minutes according to your altitude) for storage in a pantry. After the jars of chokeberry preserves cool, inspect for any that haven’t formed a seal and refrigerate or freeze. You can also store the chokeberry preserves in the fridge or freezer without processing in a water bath.
constance cunningham
So grinding up the seeds doesnt make the jam bitter at all?
Alan Bergo
Negative. They're not like a Viburnum.
Theresa L. Talarek
I'm about to use this recipe, but then realized I need a few clarifications:
1. In the ingredients list, you have "pinch of salt". I've read over the recipe a number of times but can't find when the salt is added. It is mixed into the sugar/pectin mixture, or added when you use the vinegar?
2. You mention adding the grated ginger in two places, first with chokeberries and water in the beginning (#2), then again in #5, when you say to stir in the vinegar or lemon juice "along with the ginger and zest". When is the best time to add the teaspoon of grated ginger??
3. You didn't mention lemon juice as an alternative to red wine vinegar in the ingredients list, but you do mention it that way in #5. Would I use the same amount as I would vinegar (1.5 tablespoons)??
Thanks.
Alan Bergo
Add the salt and ginger whenever you like. It doesn’t matter. Vinegar is preferable here, but you could sun lemon in a pinch-same amount. I’ll edit the recipe a bit for clarify, thanks for pointing that out.
Lolly
This was very good. I don't mind some of the choke left in my jam.
Renata Peters
This recipe came out beautifully. 5 pint jars currently processing. The three ginger, zest, and vinegar knock it out of the park. No more store jam for me. Between this, and the blackberry lime I made this summer, we're set. Thanks.
Alan Bergo
Glad it worked out for you.
Becky
Well I did another batch and weighed the berries to compare our weights to cups and mine were 1.lbs for 3 cups so I adjusted for the larger batches, cut the sugar by one third, added 1 tsp of calcium water and doubled the lemon zest and grated ginger... OMG it is just AMAZING!
Christina Blackburn
I have used this recipe several times and it never fails. We absolutely love it!
Becky
So I just finished my first double batch and I have to say it did not come out as well. I think it’s a question of the weights and I think my berries are not dry. I am not sure how I would dry them after I wash them and I have never tried to figure that out, my berries are slightly moist and I keep them in the refrigerator as I move through the batches so I think they are heavier. I just weighed one cup of my berries and then my 3 cups and rather than equaling 13 ounces for 3 cups they equal closer to 1 pound which makes sense because this latest double batch I just did feels way too pectins and sugary
By the way your comment text is tiny light gray on white and impossible to read for someone like me who is visually challenged so I am going ahead here and trying to make a comment but it is impossible for me to review my own text so if there are errors I apologize. Long story short I think for me 3 cups is way closer to 16 ounces than 13 and since I used weights in this iteration of the recipe it completely threw everything off. I’m going to try again with another recipe tomorrow because this has barely put a dent in the berries I have to process to this point.
Becky
This recipe is absolutely fantastic we have a Ronja bushes that are now quite large and produce tons of fruit and I’ve tried several other recipes in the past that were quite disappointing not this one! It is spectacular and delicious and everybody wants more! Thank you for this recipe and for all the ideas for desserts surrounding it can’t wait to try making the Aronia mousse!
I made your exact recipe to test it - with all but the ginger. Now I’ll make a lot more in bigger batches!
THANK YOU!
Alan Bergo
Glad you liked it. Let me know if your large batches work out.
Paul
Haven't yet made the recipe, but wondering how one would make large batches of something to can. I've been told that one should make everything according to the recipe's recommended proportions in order to can appropriately. Please let me know your thoughts.
Alan Bergo
The vinegar and sugar in this recipe means it's safe to can.
Lester Doré
Thanks for this recipe Alan. I ended up with only a pint plus 1/2 cup because I let the jam simmer unwatched for a few minutes while I scrambled for jars—the thermometer read 140 F when I snatched the pot off the burner. So it turned out thick and spreadable. And delicious! There was only a touch of astringency in the finished preserves. My three aronia bushes are about five years old now and bearing abundantly. (I can’t remember the names of the varieties.) I’ve gathered wild chokeberries in the past but these bushes bear so heavily I can pick a gallon in less than fifteen minutes.
MD Summers
I will be making this recipe as soon as our berries are ripe. We have at least a dozen chokeberry bushes that we planted after moving here and they produce SO MANY BERRIES!!! I'm looking for as many recipes as possible to use LOTS of berries! That said, would it be appropriate to double, triple, quadruple (etc.) this recipe and if so, what do you think would be the largest batch that would be acceptable? Also, I have a hard time getting the temp up past 215 or so. Any tips? Just keep cooking?
I'll check back in and rate the recipe as soon as I make the preserves.
Last question - could I substitute honey for sugar? We are beekeepers and would prefer to use our honey to sugar. Thanks!
Alan Bergo
Hey MD, if you don't strain it there may be some of the tannic skin left in, so depending on what you're planning I might make a small batch to make sure you like the end result first. I have to work hard for my chokeberries here so my recipes are generally in small batches. If you like it, it's fine to scale though. If you use honey, know that it will be easy to make it too sweet, but of course, it's fine. I'd probably use honey myself if I had access to larger amounts, most people don't though so I try to keep things approachable and have people riff on it as they see fit.
David Goodfellow
Ah, a lesson in doing your research more carefully before posting! It seems there is genetic evidence that the variety 'Viking' probably IS a hybrid between Sorbus and Aronia. However this is a commercial variety, so foraged plants won't be such a hybrid, so that statement is very misleading. 'Nero' is another variety that belongs in this hybrid group. They can probably be traced back to hybrid work done by the botanist Michurin. Detailed analysis can be read here http://172.104.19.75/translations/Skv1983Aronia.html
Alan Bergo
I removed the statement, it was an unnecessary anyway for culinary purposes. Thanks for the link.
Alan Bergo
This made me want a refresher, so here's your answer, from the master himself: "They are closely related, and the commercial cultivars (which are what my images are of) are hybrids with rowan backcrossed to Aronia, so they are genetically 1/8 or 1/16 rowan and the rest Aronia. This accounts mostly for the larger size, but doesn't make them taste better".
David Goodfellow
Yes, it get's pretty complex, but wild plants in North America will be the straight species (melanocarpa or prunifolia, if black, and arbutifolia if red berries). The foggy story of the Russian breeding is a bit bizarre, and these plants are apomictic, which means that the seed is genetically identical to the parent, so a whole population of plants is genetically almost identical, but not really a species - drives taxonomists absolutely crazy! Not all commercial cultivars are this Russian hybrid, but 'Viking' and 'Nero' are.
David Goodfellow
Nice recipe, but this statement, 'due to their ancestor being crossed with a species of Sorbus/rowanberry somewhere along the line' is false. Aronia is a wild native tree, related to Sorbus (in the same family) but not a hybrid at all. Unless you have some reliable source for this. . .
David Goodfellow
I should perhaps be clearer. It is true that there are varieties of Aronia that are hybrids, 'VIking' and 'Autumn Magic' for example, but you won't meet them foraging. They are hybrids between two closely-related species of Aronia, A. melanocarpa and A. arbutifolia, so no Sorbus anywhere in sight. A. melanocarpa is the black chokeberry you show in your pictures, while A. arbutifolia is the red chokeberry. These hybrids are often called Aronia x prunifolia, which could be why you thought it was a hybrid with something else. I doubt very much you could hybridize Aronia and Sorbus - they are not closely related enough.