I have been anticipating a sweet harvest after discovering a cherry tree in the backyard. We picked our first fruits in early June and I began figuring out how I was going to preserve the remaining cherries that we didn’t eat fresh. Our neighbors had more raspberries than they could eat, so we decided we could help them out. With all the red deliciousness sitting around my kitchen, I decided to dive in! I started out making some raspberry-cherry freezer jam, which turned out to be my absolute favorite jam recipe thus far! I used this recipe as a starting point, but modified it a bit:

raspberry-cherry freezer jam

• 3 cups cherries (pitted)
• 3 cups raspberries
• 4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 package Pomona’s Pectin*
• 4 cups of cane sugar

Combine cherries and raspberries in a large pot and crush the fruit with with a potato masher while heating. Add the lemon juice and pectin. Stir until dissolved. Bring mixture to a boil and add all of the sugar. Boil hard while stirring for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into your containers to freeze. This recipe makes about 7 eight-ounce jars. If you want to try canning traditionally, I’m sure you could use the instructions at the recipe link above.

I dehydrated the remaining cherries, figuring it would be a tasty ingredient to add to a granola recipe.

What are your favorite ways to use up and preserve cherries?

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