Chokecherry Jelly Recipe

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Chokecherry Jelly adds a touch of sweet tartness to your breakfast. Lori Dunn

Beverly St. Pierre, Wells, Maine, remembers jellies made with chokecherries and elderberries, and hopes someone has recipes.

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June Murphy, Rio Rancho, New Mexico, wrote in with this Chokecherry Jelly recipe, “My mother made chokecherry jelly when we were on the farm. She never used a recipe. She also made a thick syrup to put on pancakes, and she made jam, too. When she ran out of jelly jars, she canned the whole chokecherries in quart jars, then made them into jelly after we had eaten the first batch!

“I have memories of piling into the pickup (Mom driving, my aunt in the front with her, and my cousin and I in the back) and going to the North Platte River in the Nebraska panhandle where we picked the chokecherries. It was work, but getting to eat the jelly was our reward!” 

Chokecherry Jelly

Fully ripe cherries (about 31⁄2 pounds), stemmed
3 cups water
6 1⁄2 cups sugar
1 bottle fruit pectin 

Place cherries and water in very large saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Place in jelly bag and squeeze out juice.

Measure 3 cups juice into another very large saucepan. Add sugar, mixing well. Place over high heat, then bring to boil, stirring constantly. Stir in pectin all at once, and bring to full rolling boil. Boil vigorously for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and skim off foam with metal spoon. Pour quickly into glasses. Cover at once with hot paraffin wax. (Sealing with paraffin wax is no longer recommended because the wax can pull away from the sides of the jar and allow air to reach the jelly. Sealing the jars in a boiling-water canner is preferred; see below.)