The thermometer might have said 90° last Saturday, but I swear it was much hotter. Maybe not so hot as humid. Stepping outside I needed to forcefully push myself through the thick, hot air, each step forward needing complete attention and concentration. And this was at 9am. My husband lay in bed, comfortably bundled under the covers in our over air conditioned bedroom. But I was on a mission. Perhaps my last free weekend to get cherries, I wanted to make sure I had plenty to last through the winter.
When I arrived at Grand Army Plaza, the sun seemed to have gotten significantly hotter and pull closer after just a short 20 minute train ride. Grand Army is one of my favorite markets and the most convenient “big” market to my apartment, but it offers no shade other than the flimsy popup farm tents. I tried to stay under cover but it was a lost cause. I was surprised to see that in just one week the market had come alive with summer produce. Sweet corn, juicy peaches and heirloom tomatoes seemed to be everywhere. I collected a few of each but stayed true to my plan. Sweet bing and sour cherries both beckoned to me. Both equally delicious but drastically different. The heat left me with no energy to choose favorites so I did what anyone in my situation would do. I went home some of each, a little more than 4 pounds each.
Once home my weekend was spent pitting, cooking and canning. My fingers are still a bit purple around the edges from those pesky bing cherries. I look a bit like a child who played in the dirt all afternoon and refused to wash up for supper. Luckily I have no plans of meeting with anyone important this week. Those I regularly interact with are quite used to my stained or sliced fingers by now.
I started with sour cherry preserves. Tasty but ordinary. Pitted cherries, sugar, and lemon juice, cooked down until sticky and jammy. But with the sweet cherries I wanted a bit of a twist. They’re already incredibly sweet, adding the littlest bit of sugar puts them over the edge. So instead I added some acid, cutting the sweetness with the tart bite of balsamic vinegar. Not too much to my to bury the cherries, but just enough to add some bite.
As for the rest of the cherries, I became lazy and put most up in plain simple syrup, perfect for a mid winter pie craving. Oh, and then there’s the bourbon sour cherries. But that’s a recipe for another day.
Balsamic Cherry Preserves (Makes 1 1/2 to 2 cups)
- 4 c bing cherries, pitted
- 1/4 c plus 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
- 1/4 c lemon juice
- 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 3 tbsp powdered pectin
Mix cherries, 1/4 cup sugar and vanilla seeds and bean in a medium saucepan and let macerate for at least one hour. Remove vanilla bean and discard. Stir in lemon juice and bring to a slow boil over medium heat, crushing fruit as it cooks. Add balsamic vinegar and continue cooking until liquid reduces slightly, about 10 minutes.
In a small bowl stir together remaining tablespoon of sugar and pectin. Increase cherries to a rapid boil and add pectin mix, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes until completely dissolved and cherries have reached the jelly state. Remove from heat and ladle into hot, sterilized 4oz canning jars. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
Related articles
- Jam Season is Here – Lavender Strawberry Jam (bklynlocavore.com)
- Peach Caprese Skewers + Balsamic Vinegar (abeautifulmess.com)
- Cherry Bakewell Alaska with Sour cherry sauce (icecreammagazine.wordpress.com)
- Lemon Cherry Muffins with Almond Crumbs (bklynlocavore.com)
Brooklyn Locavore 
WOW! This looks amazing. I saw some cherries at the market and passed them by, now I wish I had put them in my basket.
There’s still a few weeks left. Go for it!
Sounds delicious! I made balsamic strawberry preserves this weekend, but mine didn’t set. But I’m kind of ok with that, because now I have an excuse to them as a sauce over vanilla ice cream.
Also, that’s pretty amazing that your markets have corn already! We’re still a far way out. I think we’re so close in climate, but that little bit of a difference in latitude makes a huge difference with some things!
Yeah my strawberry rhubarb didn’t set as much as I would have liked it to; I think I was just impatient. But good call using it for an ice cream topping. Can’t go wrong!
My mouth watered when that photo showed up in my reader. Bravo to you for braving this heat. I wanted to pick cherries two weeks ago, but just couldn’t. I guess I’ll have to stock up on blueberries instead!
I really wanted to go cherry picking too but didn’t have time. Glad I at least made it to the market. Don’t worry though, tons of blueberries are still a great consolation prize!
I have been wanting to branch out into preserving. I spent summer after summer in the kitchen with my canning and freezing the beautiful vegetables from her garden and fruit from the orchard or a neighbor’s orchard but I have never done it myself. The balsamic cherry preserves sound amazing. You have inspired me. Maybe I will actually get the lemons preserved that I have been thinking about!
Always glad to inspire! Personally I think jams and preserves are the easiest to start with. Especially if you use pectin and follow the recipe, it’s hard to mess up. Jelly on the other hand is another story. After 3 years I finally successfully made violet jelly that wasn’t liquid in a jar or as congealed as a giant gummy bear. Best of luck!
Pingback: Bourbon Sour Cherries « Brooklyn Locavore
Ah! If I’d read the posts in order I’d have known where you found the sour cherries!
Haha. Blogs aren’t meant to be read in order 🙂 After I got a few pounds from one stand I found “second” at I think Phillips farm’s stand for $2 a pint! Of course I had to get some more…
I’m late to the game and just now reading this. This jam sounds so good. Never thought of using balsamic with cherries, love cherry jam!! Sounds really delicious.
I think cherry anything is my favorite. The balsamic adds a nice acidity and cuts the sweetness just a bit. We made close to 4 cups and already a quarter is gone. Just made them last week…
Pingback: Sweet Cherry Crumble for Two « Brooklyn Locavore
Pingback: Vanilla Honey Apricot Preserves « Brooklyn Locavore
Pingback: Braised Leek & Sweet Corn Risotto « Brooklyn Locavore
Pingback: Simple Cherry Preserves « Brooklyn Locavore
Sounds like an awesome recipe for flavours – love the vanilla bean add! I’m canning in big quantities for a small business in BC, Canada (where we have some pretty awesome cherries) and need to give my local food safe inspector my recipe sources when I want to bring a product to market. Is this your recipe or is it adapted from another source? Are you using Ponoma pectin or Certo? Thanks so much for your help. Find me at Facebook.com/cottagepantry
It is my own recipe, based off the Pomona pectin recipe suggestions, and knowing that I can add additional acid to canning recipes. Hope that helps!