Classic Chokecherry Jelly

An English muffin buttered and spread with chokecherry jelly on a china plate next to a bowl of cherries and a jar of jelly.

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5 from 6 votes

Classic jelly made from chokecherries or other wild cherries. Makes 5 cups, or 5 half pint mason jars.

Prep Time45

Cook Time25

Total Time1 10

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: choke cherry jelly recipe

Servings: servings

Calories: 46kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Cost: 5

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
1 Candy thermometer
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,
3 cups water just enough so the fruit is barely covered
4 cups sugar
¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
4 teaspoons Powdered apple pectin Liquid pectin works great too-follow directions on the package.
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.
if you're more comfortable using liquid pectin like Sure-Jell that's fine too, just follow the directions on the package.
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 to room temperature, 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.
Some jellies I need to push up to 225F to get them to set, but this can also depend on your elevation. Doing set tests is the most important skill to master here.
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.

Video

Notes

I use Cuisine Tech brand pectin as it's a professional chef standard. It's expensive, but one jar will last many years. You can use other powdered pectins, preferably apple.

You can mix other fruit with chokecherries for making jelly. Other wild fruits like black raspberries or different types of wild cherries are great. If you use crab apples you can make the jelly without pectin. Leave a comment if you want help there.

Nutrition