Cherry jam with dark chocolate

Ingredients for 8 servings:

• 1.3 kg cherry(s), ripe, pitted
• 1 tsp citric acid
• 2 lemon(s), juice and pulp
• some lemon peel, organic, grated
• 100 g chocolate, 90% dark
• 2 stalk(s) cinnamon, approx. (total approx. 16cm)
• 1 pack of gelling powder 3:1
• 200 g sugar (to taste)
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 cl brandy or rum

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes

Wash and pit the cherries. I do it with a knife and cut the cherries in half at the same time. This saves me the mess of blending afterwards. Heat the chocolate in a double boiler. Place the cherries in a large pot. Add the citric acid, lemon juice + pulp (passed through a sieve) and zest (if desired), gelling agent, cinnamon bark, and a tiny pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add the sugar and simmer for 5 minutes. (If you don’t want any pieces of fruit, you should remove the cinnamon bark now and blend it with a mixer; I don’t.) Stir in the melted chocolate, add the schnapps, and stir vigorously again. In addition to killing the mold bacteria, the schnapps will eliminate most of the foam. Remove the cinnamon bark and cut it into approximately 2cm pieces. Pour the jam into small twist-off jars, top with a piece of cinnamon bark, seal tightly, and turn the jars upside down. The ultimate Christmas gift for jam lovers. The instructions are based on the gelling agent package, so add the sugar at the end. If using a different gelling agent, please process according to the manufacturer’s instructions.