Cherry and Sage Noir Jam

July 11, 2011

Category: Recipe
Tag(s): alcohol, cherries, jam

For the past 26 years, my cousin and I have been super-awesome-cousin-best-friends-4-eva (That’s the technical term, write it down.).

: Us with our nana.

During summers, we’d have sleep-overs, play Super Nintendo all day, walk to the park barefoot (don’t tell our moms), and ride our bikes for hours. Oh, and FYI: our Barbie’s had major drama.

We know every single lyric to every Michael Jackson song, and when we were 16, we formed a band and wrote over 70 songs together. So I’m pretty sure, if anyone knows how to jam, it’s us.

: Home for Christmas in 2009.

For this recipe, I followed the basic guidelines from David Lebovitz, and then I messed around with it. This cherry jam isn’t just cherry jam: it’s got pinot noir and sage in it.
I made a very small batch, but you can go ahead and make as much as you want.

Ingredients

1 lb of cherries, pitted and roughly chopped
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup Pinot Noir
7-10 sage leaves (Fresh herbs only. I’m serious.)
white sugar (amount discussed below)

Instructions

Put chopped cherries, sage leaves, lemon juice, and wine into a pot on medium/medium-low heat, and cook for about 10-15 minutes. You’re looking for the wine to reduce, and the cherries to become soft.
Now, turn the heat off, and measure how much stuff you got there in your pot. I had 2 cups of “stuff.” Add 3/4 of that amount, in sugar. (So for 2 cups, it was 1.5 cups of sugar. MATH!)
Return “stuff” and sugar to pot, and boil away for a good 20 minutes. Make sure you’re RIGHT there, stirring constantly! This stuff can burn and then it’ll taste like crap. So don’t let that happen.
You’ll know it’s done when it’s thick, and coats the back of your spoon. You can do the “plate test” too. Put a plate in the fridge to get cold, and then drop some of your jam onto it. If it gels on the cold plate, you’re jam is done!
Pour into container and store in fridge

You can put this jam over ice cream, or what about using it as a glaze for pork or chicken?

I was boring and just put it on some toast. But who said there was anything wrong with boring?

This will last in your fridge for a long time if kept covered. I’m gonna need more cherries….

8 Notes

Aimee says:

July 12, 2011 at 4:36 am

Awww loving the new post!! I love how personal you make your entries, it’s so much better than just reading a recipe off someones blog and nothing else. LOVE the photography too

Reply
Fahad Khan says:

August 13, 2011 at 11:29 am

Thank you for the recipe,I love the way you write.:-) Unique,out-of-the-box,cool!
Also,wanted to know when do we add sage?

Reply
- admin says:
  
  August 15, 2011 at 12:29 am
  
  Oops! I guess I forgot one of the most important parts. It’s added to the instructions now. I add the sage leaves at the very beginning, so it allows maximum sage flavor to soak into the cherries. Thanks for reading!
  
  Reply
AllieDale says:

November 10, 2011 at 6:53 am

How much jam does this recipe make? I’m looking to make a few jam-jars for Xmas gifts and want to make sure I appropriately double or triple (?) this recipe if necessary. it looks beautiful!

let me know

Reply
- admin says:
  
  November 10, 2011 at 4:21 pm
  
  Uh oh, I don’t quite remember specifically how much jam this yielded. I’m almost positive it was about 16oz, or a little less. I suggest double and triple-ing away!
  
  Reply
Pingback: Blackberry Jam with Pinot Noir « Allison Eats
Sara says:

July 19, 2015 at 12:39 pm

Do you remove the sage leaves or chop them and leave them in the jam? I’m making this right now and it smells great! I didn’t have Pinot so I used Malbec. Not sure how that will work, but so far so good.

Reply
- Cathy says:
  
  July 19, 2015 at 5:02 pm
  
  Hi Sara! I definitely removed the sage leaves. I can’t believe I forgot that step! Thank you for pointing it out I’m sure a Malbec will be delicious!
  
  Reply