Cherry jam: calories, benefits and harms, recipes
Cherry is one of the most useful berries, containing many important vitamins that strengthen the immune system. In addition, it helps to eliminate toxins from the body and reduces the risk of cancer. The only drawback of cherries is that in winter it is impossible to find them fresh. However, you can resort to a proven method and make excellent cherry jam.
Benefit and harm
One hundred grams of cherry jam contains approximately 256 calories. The nutritional value of a half-liter container of jam is 1275 kcal. A tablespoon contains 77 kcal, and a teaspoon contains 25 kcal.
This dessert is very popular due to its excellent taste. However, before proceeding with its preparation, it is worth considering all its advantages and disadvantages.
Beneficial features:
- substances found in cherry fruits can significantly reduce blood sugar levels, as well as enrich it with many important components;
- ripe cherries are saturated with many trace elements necessary for the functioning of the immune system;
- eating cherries has a good effect on muscles, blood vessels and even appearance.
Dessert damage.
- In jam with seeds, stored for more than a year, the release of hydrocyanic acid begins, leading to poisoning.
- Children under one year old are not recommended to use cherry jam, as the berry is a strong allergen. 50% of the treat consists of sugar, which provokes the occurrence of dental diseases.
- Those suffering from diabetes, lung diseases, diseases of the stomach and intestines (especially if it is an ulcer) and high acidity, cherry fruit jam is contraindicated.
- People who are overweight are not recommended to get involved in this dish because of its high calorie content.
Cooking methods
There is a huge variety of ways to prepare a cherry dessert. Below are the most popular recipes for this delicacy.
Seedless
Ingredients for a 4 liter container:
- cherry - 1 kg;
- sugar - 1.2 kg;
- water - 1 glass.
Berries must be carefully sorted out, cleared of all debris. Then wash them well under water and let them dry.
With the help of a pin or a special tool, it is required to remove the seeds from the fruits, trying so that their skin does not deform.
The prepared cherries should be placed in a saucepan with an enamel coating, while sprinkled with sugar. Then put in a cool place for several hours.
Next, the contents of the dishes must be placed in a cooking basin. The sugar that remains in the pan must be diluted with water and poured into the rest of the mass.
The container is placed on a small fire and gently stirred until the sugar grains are completely melted. Then the fire can be made a little more so that the mixture boils. The resulting foam must be removed. So that the berry gruel does not burn, sometimes the basin should be removed from the stove and stirred.
It is very easy to understand whether a treat is ready. You need to drop a drop of syrup on a plate - it should be thick and not spread, in which case the jam is completely ready. It remains to let it cool and put it in clean jars.
"Five Minute"
The preparation of this dessert will take a minimum of time and cost, and the result is not inferior to classic jam in taste.
Ingredients:
- cherry - 2 kg;
- sugar - 1.5 kg.
Cherries are carefully removed from debris and spoiled fruits, and then washed with clean cool water.
Next, you need to put it in a bowl for cooking, thoroughly falling asleep with sugar. All this is infused for about six hours, so that the berry fruits release juice.
After six hours, you need to put a container with cherries on a small fire and cook the candied berries until boiling, gently stirring them and removing the foam. After the mixture boils, you need to cook it for another seven minutes.
After that, hot sweetness is laid out in jars, which must be closed immediately. Jam should cool in a container upside down on the lid.
For the winter
In winter, more than ever, you want sweet berries and fruits. Thanks to this recipe, you can make a fragrant jam that will delight the whole family throughout the year.
Ingredients:
- cherry - 1.2 kg;
- sugar - 1 kg;
It is necessary to carefully sort out the cherry, clearing it of unnecessary debris. After that, rinse it thoroughly under clean running water and wait until it drains. After the cherry is completely dry, you need to pull the seeds out of it.
Next, the berries are carefully transferred to a deep container, in which the jam will be cooked. It is advisable to take a large iron bowl or a basin intended for cooking. This is necessary so that the fruits can be easily shaken.
A dense layer of sugar is sprinkled on top of the cherries, after which the dishes should not be shaken strongly to evenly distribute the grains over the entire surface.
The whole mixture is left to infuse for several hours at room temperature.Throughout this time, you need to shake it gently. Be sure to do this, otherwise the berries will stick together and wrinkle. It also makes the sugar go faster. For the best effect, it is recommended to leave this mixture for 10 hours, but this is not necessary.
After dissolving most of the sugar, the mixture can be put on a small fire. Cherry juice and sugar should turn into syrup. At this time, it is best to cover the container with a lid and do not interfere with its contents, but gently shake the bowl in different directions. So the berries will retain their integrity.
Bring the contents of the pan to a boil, you need to make a moderate fire and continue cooking for 3 minutes. Then turn off the stove and allow the mass to cool to room temperature.
Then the jam is cooked a second time over low heat for exactly five minutes. You need to let it cool again, then bring it to a boil again and cook for another five minutes.
This sweet is prepared in three stages, thanks to which it turns out so tender and fragrant. After the last dripping, it remains only to pour the mixture hot into containers and put it away for storage.
Without cooking
Cherry jam that does not require cooking is a very tasty dessert for the whole family. Its main advantage is that such a dish does not waste its useful properties, since it is not subjected to heat treatment. The only drawback of this delicacy is that it will not last a whole year. It can only be stored for a month. Therefore, you do not need to do it in large quantities. Although with the unique taste of this jam, you don’t have to worry about the fact that it has time to deteriorate.
Components that will be needed:
- cherry - 1 kg;
- sugar - 2 kg.
First you need to prepare the berries for cooking, as described in previous recipes.Then put them in a large bowl, cover with water and leave for half an hour. After this time, the water is drained.
A deep dish is taken into which a little sugar is poured. A small amount of cherries are laid out on top. Again, granulated sugar is poured and berries are again placed on it.
You need to do these simple maneuvers until all the berries are candied. After that, the dishes with the resulting mass must be covered with a lid and shake well so that the sugar is distributed evenly.
All this mixture should be infused for about five hours. Once the time has passed, the jam can be considered ready. It remains only to decompose it into jars and store at a low temperature.
In a slow cooker
This method of making jam has a huge advantage: there is no need to process products in several stages. Speaking specifically about cherry jam, here you can get by with cooking in one stage, without boiling several times, which must be done according to standard technology. It is not at all necessary to separate the cherry from the seeds, as it will boil even with them.
However, this method of creating a cherry treat has several nuances. You need to sort out the berries very carefully. Only in this case, their shape will be preserved even during long-term cooking. Cherries must be thoroughly washed, rid of dirt, worms, etc. All this requires utmost care, and the berries themselves cannot be soaked for a long time. Jam should be cooked in small portions. Professionals assure that the less the pan is filled, the better each berry will cook, and they advise adding the ingredients so that one third of the dish remains empty. The ideal ratio of cherries and sugar should be 1:1 or 1.5:1, since this berry is not particularly sweet.
If the dessert is supposed to be stored for more than one winter, then it must be cooked pitted. After a while, they begin to release toxic substances that are hazardous to health.
The ideal option for making jam in a slow cooker is the “quenching” mode, which provides for the absence of boiling, due to which the mixture is well infused without losing its beneficial substances and properties.
To prepare a cherry dessert in a slow cooker, you will need:
- cherry - 2 kg;
- sugar - 2 kg.
Berries should be washed under cool water, sorted and dried thoroughly. Then place them in the bowl of a kitchen helper and sprinkle with a layer of sugar. Close the lid and leave to infuse for no more than five hours. After this time, turn on the "extinguishing" mode for two hours.
While the dessert is being prepared, you can prepare the dishes in advance. The container must be thoroughly washed and sterilized.
After 2 hours of cooking, the finished dessert can be distributed among the jars. You can use it with chocolate.
Cherry in gelatin
There is another simple, but very tasty and original recipe for cherry treats for the winter - cherries in gelatin. The berries taste like freshly picked from the tree. This simple sweetness can be considered one of the most delicious cherry preparations. Unlike ordinary jam, almost half as much sugar is required here, which makes the dessert not so high-calorie and allows you to prepare more berries.
Components:
- instant gelatin - 1.5 tablespoons;
- cherry - 600 grams;
- sugar - 300 grams.
To begin with, it is worth preparing the basis of the delicacy.In cherry fruits, small worms can often be found. To get rid of them, you should lower the berries in cool water for an hour, after which you can safely proceed to remove the seeds. The cherry, cleared of all debris, is placed in a deep bowl and sprinkled with sugar. All this is infused for about four hours.
At this time, gelatin is being prepared. It is poured into a cup and poured with cool boiled water (100 ml) to swell.
After a set time, the cherry mixture can be sent to the fire. It must be thoroughly mixed and boiled until boiling. Then you should reduce the heat and cook the mass for about ten minutes, then turn off the gas and leave it to cool.
There is also a second cooking option for this dish, only it will require 300 grams of sugar and 150 ml of water. It is necessary to boil syrup from these components and add pre-prepared berries to it. Cook the mixture for no more than ten minutes, then add the diluted gelatin to it. Carefully stirring, cook it over low heat, not bringing to a boil.
Pouring jam into containers, they should be tightly closed and turned over. They should stand in this position until the sweetness has completely cooled. This dessert should be stored at a low temperature (0. +3 degrees).
Recommendations
- Cherry fruits are not so harmless. In their bones, there is a glycoside amygdalin, which, under certain conditions, produces a substance dangerous to the body. It is for this reason that cherry jam with stones, which has delicious taste, should not be stored for more than one year, as it becomes very toxic to the human body.
- For cooking jam, you should use only ripe and elastic berries, in which there are no worms.Frozen fruit will work too. The best option are scarlet or almost black fruits. Their shelf life is short, so they must be prepared immediately after purchase or collection.
- So that the cherry does not deform and does not become wrinkled, it will be correct to cook the sweetness in 3 doses, while observing their exposure for several hours in sugar filling.
Having become acquainted with all the nuances of making cherry jam and having considered the most popular recipes, you can safely go to the stove to please yourself and your loved ones with the delicious taste and aroma of summer berries in the winter season.
Another cherry jam recipe is in the video below.