Sour cherry jam
The beliefJam is assumed to need gelatine or packet pectin, and sour cherries to shrivel whenever they are cooked.
The truthSour cherry jam sets on its own once it reaches 104–105 °C. Keeping the cherries whole depends on a night in the sugar.
How to make it
What you need
- 1 kg sour cherries, stoned
- 800 g sugar
- Juice of half a lemon
- A sugar thermometer, optional
How the engine read this list (3 lines)
| 1000 g | Sour cherries, stoned | sour-cherry |
| 800 g | Sugar | sugar |
| 20 g | Lemon juice (half a lemon) | lemon |
An empty weight means that line could not be turned into grams — either the amount is open ("to taste") or the ingredient has no record here. Neither enters the sum as zero; they do not enter it at all.
Stone the cherries. Layer them with the sugar in a wide pan, cover and leave them in the fridge for 8–12 hours.
By the next day the sugar should have largely dissolved. Put the pan over a medium flame and bring it to the boil, swirling the pan rather than stirring.
Skim off the foam and boil it 20–25 minutes, until it reaches 104–105 °C.
Without a thermometer, drop a little syrup onto a plate chilled in the fridge; if it wrinkles when you push it with a finger after a minute, it is ready.
Add the lemon juice and boil one minute more. Fill jars rinsed with boiling water to 1 cm from the top while hot, close them and cool them upside down.
The others that work the same way
Strawberry jam
The truthIt is a balance of three things: pectin, acid and sugar. Get the balance and it takes forty minutes.
Tomato paste
The truthThe only job is taking the water out. Three hours in the oven or two days in the sun — the work is identical either way.
Pomegranate molasses
The truthYou boil pomegranate juice down to a fifth. The only decision is when to stop.
In the time this takes, so would these
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Water Activity (aw) in Foods