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Homemade Chocolate Cherry Jam

Love chocolate dipped cherries or cherry ice cream with chocolate chunks? This cherry chocolate jam is a game changer. We recently found this recipe in our Ball Canning Book and had to make it. You may be scratching your head like we were. Can you really put chocolate in jam? How will it taste? It’s amazing. All the cherry flavor with a taste of delicious chocolate.

Homemade Cherry Preserves are one of the top jams we make every year. So making a chocolate sweet cherry jam recipe is now on our list of must make jam recipes.

How Do You Make Cherry Chocolate Jam?

You make chocolate jam similar to how you make cherry jam, but with one additional ingredient. You add chocolate. Put this on your toast, on ice cream and into desserts and pastries.

Are Whole Cherries Used To Make Cherry Preserves?

You will want to use chopped cherries to make your cherry jam recipe. The cherries do break down, but cutting them into smaller pieces, gives it more smoothness versus chunks. But it’s your preference in how chunky you want it. The more chunks you have, you may have a cherry preserves

Are Chocolate And Cherries A Good Combination?

Yes! There are cherry chocolate ice creams and cherry chocolate muffins. It is similar to strawberries and chocolate. Whatever you do for strawberries, can also be done with cherries (for the most post).

Do You Use Frozen Cherries Or Fresh Cherries?

You can start with frozen cherries, but they will need to be thawed to use them. It will take more time to for the cherries to come up to temperature while cooking.

Do You Need To Add Lemon Juice to Make Jam?

This chocolate cherry jam does require lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice is preferred as the acidity between lemons varies.

Is Homemade Cherry Jam Made With Tart Or Sweet Cherries?

You can use either tart cherries or sweet cherries (like bing cherries). Sweet cherries are easier to find here in the store, so that is what we used. If you use tart/sour cherries, the hot jam may not be as sweet (but will still be sweet).

How Do You Add Chocolate To The Cherry Preserves Recipe?

When making cherry jam, we mix the sugar and unsweetened cocoa into the sugar and mix together. This reduces the amount of lumps the cocoa has in it. It also makes it smoother for the mixture to blend together with the hot cherry chunks.

Do You Need to Pit The Cherries?

Yes, use pitted cherries! No one likes to bite down on a hard seed. And as you are boiling, keep a fork nearby. The missed pits will float to the top and be light in color compared to the red cherries (they are brownish). Check out the recipe below with a link for a cherry pitter. It will make pitting cherries much easier.

Do You Need to Water Bath Jam After Putting In Jars?

It is recommended by Ball Canning that water bathing jars after process is needed. We follow their recommend recipe and also water bath. It is helpful if your pectin did not active, it should help the hot preserve thicken.

What Size Jars Do You Put the Homemade Cherry Jam In?

Half pint or pint jars are the common size for homemade jam. The processing time for half pints is the same as for pint jars.

Do You Have Another Cherry Jam Recipe?

Definitely. We have a small batch cherry jam recipe you can make easily and a freezer jam recipe as well.

Print Recipe

4 from 2 votes

Best Chocolate Cherry Jam

Oh yes, you can make delicious cherry chocolate jam. A perfect blend of cherries with a sweet chocolate taste. Will you share or not?

Course: Canning

Cuisine: American

Servings: half pints

Author: Regina Sober

Equipment

Ingredients

6 cups chopped pitted dark sweet cherries
6 Tablespoons Pectin
1/4 cup lemon juice
6 cups sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Instructions

Fill the water bath canner with water (to give the jars water 1 inch above the jars. Start heating the water while you process the cherries.
Wash the cherries.
Remove the stems, pits and cut the cherries into small pieces (rough chop).
Place the cherries and lemon juice and pectin into the Dutch oven.
Stir to blend the pectin and lemon juice evenly through the cherries.
While the cherries comes up to temp, mix the cocoa and sugar into a bowl. This will make it easier when it's time to add and the cocoa will mix in to the cherries easier.
Bring the mix to a boil over medium heat.
Stir to keep the mix from burning.
Add the sugar/cocoa mix and stir until the sugar melts.
Bring to a rolling boil, stirring to keep from boiling.
Stir the mix for a minute while it boils (rolling boil is a boil you cannot stir down). Stir. Stir. Stir.
After a minute of hard boiling (and constant stirring), remove from heat.
If there is a foam on top, you can remove before ladling into jars.
Place the funnel on the jar and with the ladle, fill the jars, leaving 1/4" head space from the top.
Clean the top of the jar with a clean wet towel.
Place a seal on the jar and flinger tighten.
Place the jars in hot water in the water bath canner.
Repeat filling each jar and placing into the water bath canner, water should be 1" over top of jars.
Bring the water bath canner water to a boil and water bath jars for 10 minutes.
After the time is up, turn off the heat and allow the jars to sit for 5 minutes.
Remove the jars and place on a towel.
Cover the jars and allow them to cool for 12 hours.
Check to ensure they have sealed. Label and date the jars.

Video

Notes

The water bath water is brought to a boil while you are processing the jars so that the water and jars are both hot when you place the jars into the water bath.

Stirring is needed to keep the jam from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

A towel is placed underneath the jars to keep them from touching a cold surface.

The jars are covered to keep the jars from experience any sudden changes in room temperature (and breaking the jars)