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Sweet Cherry-Rhubarb Jam

basket covered in a tattered dish towel full of fresh cherries
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Sweet Cherry-Rhubarb Jam is a low-sugar cooked jam made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener. This recipe was created by Allison Carroll Duffy for Pomona’s Pectin.
She says: The jam is a beautiful deep, rich red, and the cherries are sweet enough to offset the tartness of the rhubarb without having to add a lot of extra sugar. Be sure to use sweet cherries (Bing cherries, for example), not sour cherries.Try this jam swirled into yogurt or on top of vanilla ice cream . . . oh so good!
Servings 5 cups

Ingredients

  • 1¼ pounds sweet cherries
  • 1 pound trimmed rhubarb stalks
  • ½ cup water
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice bottled
  • 3 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
  • 1¼ cups sugar
  • 2 ½ teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin mixed with sweetener

Instructions

  • Before you begin, prepare calcium water.
    To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.
    Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
  • Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Wash lids and bands and set aside.
  • Rinse the cherries, remove and discard stems and pits, then chop the cherries.
  • Rinse the rhubarb stalks, slice them into thin, length-wise strips, then dice. In a saucepan, combine diced rhubarb with the ½ cup of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for approximately 5 minutes, or until rhubarb is soft. Remove pan from heat, then mash the rhubarb.
  • Measure 2 cups of the chopped cherries, and 2 cups of the mashed rhubarb. If you have extra, save it for another use. Pour the measured amounts of cherries and rhubarb into a sauce pan. Add lemon juice and calcium water and stir to combine.
  • In a separate bowl, combine the sugar and the pectin powder. Mix well and set aside.
  • Bring the cherry-rhubarb mixture to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the sugar-pectin mixture, then stir vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes, still over the highest heat, to dissolve pectin. Return the mixture to a boil, then remove it from the heat.
  • Remove hot jars from canner and fill jars with (marmalade/jam/jelly), leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Remove trapped air bubbles, wipe rims and put on lids and screw bands, tightening bands only to “fingertip tight” (until resistance is met, and then just the tiniest bit more).
  • Place jars in the hot water, on the rack inside the canner. (Make sure jars are upright, not touching each other or the sides of the canner, and are covered with at least 1-2 inches of water). Place the lid on the canner, bring the canner to a rolling boil, and boil for 10 minutes. (Add 1 minute additional processing time for every 1000 feet above sea level.)
  • Turn off heat and allow canner and jars to sit for 5 minutes. Then remove jars from canner.
  • Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Then, confirm that jars have sealed, then store properly. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.

12 Comments

    1. This recipe makes about 5 half pints. But the processing time would be the same for pint size jars.

      Reply

    1. Yes, you can! It’s best to use unsweetened frozen fruit. Defrost, but don’t drain frozen fruit before using. Generally you use the liquid from the frozen fruit along with the fruit unless you notice that there is an excessive amount of liquid, in which case you would ladle off some of the excess liquid before measuring your mashed fruit. (If you are going to juice the fruit for jelly, then you would use all of the liquid.)

      Reply

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