Sweet Spread: Cherry in Two Variations

Preface:

1. The procedure for both spread variations is the same. Therefore there is only one description for both recipes.

How to do it:

1. Core the cherries. You can do this with a knife or with a cherry pitter. The cherry pitter is faster, but has two disadvantages: on the one hand, it splashes a lot and you should therefore wear old clothes, on the other hand, you cannot see whether the cherries are inhabited. I first worked with a knife on my cherries and when it became clear that my cherries were uninhabited (you can tell after a few cherries) I switched to the cherry pitter. In any case, you should wear disposable gloves, otherwise you will have a color effect on your fingers for a few days afterwards.
2. When the cherries are pitted, weigh 1500g and mix with the preserving sugar in a saucepan. Let it steep there for at least 2 hours. You can also leave it overnight. The aim is for the cherries to draw juice, which makes pureeing easier.
3. Now we’re looking for 5 glasses of 400g each. These are the normal jam jars that you know from the supermarket. These and the matching lids are placed in a saucepan with hot water on the stove and boiled. Let it cook for about 10 minutes and then fish it out with a pair of tongs. Place upside down on a clean tea towel. You do this just before you cook the spread so that you can pour in the hot mass directly.
4. The cherries are pureed. This shows whether all the stones are out of the cherries. If not, it cracks when you mash it.
5. Now spread the mixture through a sieve, so the spread is very fine and any cherry stone residues are removed.
6. Mix the cherry puree with all the ingredients in the pot, puree again if necessary. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally, and cook for 5-6 minutes. It should boil really bubbly.
7. If foam forms on the spread, skim it off towards the end of the cooking time. You can also eat it wonderfully, but it doesn’t look nice in the glasses.
8. When the spread is ready, put some of it on a plate and see if the mixture solidifies when it cools. This is called a gelation test. If this is passed, you can turn the drained glasses over and fill the spread.
9. For filling, I always turn 2-3 glasses over and fill them. Make sure that the compound does not run out over the edge. If that does happen, wipe it clean with a paper towel, otherwise the glass could draw in air and spoil. The lids are opened immediately and tightly closed. Use a tea towel to close because the glasses and lids are very hot.
10. The pot is briefly placed on the hot stove again in between, so that the mixture does not cool down too much. This is important for creating the vacuum.
11. Once all glasses are filled and tightly closed, let everything cool down, wipe the limescale off the glasses and stick labels with type and date on them. Then you know what’s in it and when you produced it. The spread can be kept for about 1 year.

Tip:

1. In smaller jars, spreads are also a nice souvenir or giveaway.