I did it, I conquered my fear of canning and was able to preserve 9 pints of delicious cherry pie filling that I made from the wonderful fresh sour cherries from my neighbor’s tree! I actually accomplished this a week ago, but am just now getting around to posting.
I also have another basket full of cherries that I picked just before the weekend. They need to be pitted and I plan to make some cherry jam from some and hopefully another sour cherry almond cake. However this time I was thinking of making individual cakes, maybe in ramekins? Yum. :)
UPDATE: below is a list of recipes I have made so far with this batch of cherry pie filling (or with the fresh sour cherries before making the filling) END UPDATEÂ
Here’s a recap of the cherry pie filling recipes I’ve tested so far:
Cherry Cake with Cherry Cream Cheese Frosting
Cherry Pie Squares
Cherry Cheesecake
Cherry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Black Forest Brownie Bites
These use fresh sour cherries:
Cherry Almond Cake
Sour Cherry Financiers
PROCESSING THE CHERRIES
So this cherry pie filling recipe is pretty much everywhere on the internet. I didn’t want to get complicated, especially since I was canning this, so I stuck to the recipe that I got from the Utah State University Extension Office, however, the step by step photos are much better on the website PickYourOwn.org. However, FAIR WARNING, I discovered a few typos on the pick your own website, typos that conflicted with the recipe, so I stuck strictly with the recipe in the Utah University PDF and used Pick Your Own’s photos as a guide only.
First off, if you are lucky enough to pick fresh sour cherries, always try to keep the stems intact until you are actually ready to use them. Once the stem is removed, the flesh of the cherry is exposed to the air and will begin to brown. Store your picked cherries in the refrigerator until you are ready to remove stems and pits, not more than a few days if possible.
See? Here’s the tree down the street from me! It’s pretty much picked clean now, between me, my neighbor’s father, and the birds, we didn’t let any go to waste. :)
When you are ready to pit your cherries, place them in a colander and give them a quick rinse under cold water. Remove the stem and pit the cherry.
I have this totally cool cherry pitter that removes 4 pits at once. I got it from a good friend of mine over at Kid Smart Living, but they are gone now – I also found it on Amazon and it rocks! It has a little tray with 8 slots, 4 large for cherries like bing, and 4 small for sour cherries. As you can see from the picture above, I hadn’t figured that out yet and had the sour cherries in the big slots. :-/
You place the 4 cherries into the little slots, then just press down on the top of the pitter and lift it back up.
That’s it, pitted!
There’s a little collection tray underneath that catches the pits for you. It even came with a nifty little collapsable colander. After I pitted the cherries, I tossed them into the colander.
When the colander was full I gave them another quick rinse then dumped them into a large glass bowl.
When I was finished, it looked like a murder scene… Haha!
I wasn’t quite ready to can, so I placed all of the cherries into a large plastic container with a lid and covered them with water. I cut a lemon in half and squeezed some juice into the water and let them sit until the next day.
The first thing to do was to drain the cherries. However, I did not just drain the cherries and lose all of that glorious red water they had been soaking in! I reserved the water and used that in place of the water in the pie filling recipe.
Next, I blanched them for one minute, though I definitely had to do several batches with the number of cherries that I had. After each batch, I needed to put them in a bowl or pot with a lid to keep the heat from escaping, so I just used the ceramic insert and lid from my Crockpot.
The next step is to combine the sugar and Clear Jel in a pot, then add the water. Clear Jel is a thickening agent, basically like cornstarch, but apparently it’s modified specifically for things like pie filling. You can’t find t at regular grocery stores, so I had to order mine online. So anyhoo, I combined the Clear Jel and sugar in a large pot, then I added the red water I had reserved earlier. After attempting to whisk it all together, I then added the cinnamon and almond extract. There was no need for me to add the red food coloring since I used the very red water the cherries had been soaking in.
As you can see, the Clear Jel did not want to combine with the water well, and I should have known better! I know that cornstarch should be mixed with a small amount of liquid first then added as a thick liquid, but I didn’t do that. So instead, I fought with it, smashed it against the side of the pan with my wooden spoon, etc, until it was all dissolved.
The warmer and thicker the mixture became, the more the Clear Jel melted in, so all was well.
Lastly, I added in the lemon juice and boiled for another minute, and then folded the drained cherries into the thickened mixture. I then followed the directions from Utah University for processing the pie filling and it was successful! I won’t tell you how to do it here but will tell you this was way easier than I thought and now I wish I hadn’t put it off for so long! Can’t wait to can some more stuff as fall approaches. :)
Below is the recipe for cherry pie filling, please download the PDF for processing instructions.
Homemade Cherry Pie Filling
IMPORTANT - There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Print It Rate ItIngredients
- 3 â…“ cups fresh or thawed sour cherries
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon Clear Jel
- 1 â…“ cups cold water I used the water the cherries were soaking in
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon bottled lemon juice
- â…› teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 6 drops red food coloring optional, I didn't use this
Before You Begin
Instructions
- Rinse and pit fresh cherries, and hold in cold water. For fresh fruit, blanch up to 6 cups of cherries at a time in one gallon of boiling water. After water returns to a boil, boil for one minute. Drain, but keep heated in a covered bowl or pot. Combine Clear Jel and sugar in a large pot and add water. Add cinnamon, almond extract and food coloring. Stir mixture and cook over medium high heat until mixture thickens and bubbles. Add lemon juice and boil one minute, stirring constantly. Fold in drained cherries immediately. Fill your jars with mixture without delay, leaving one inch headspace. Adjust lids and process immediately.
- Instructions for 1 quart, adjust quantities based on the measurement of cherries you have.
Nutrition
I will be sharing with you my cherry version of the blackberry pie squares that were such a big hit around here.
More from Amanda you might like:
Vanilla Bean Mulberry Cake
Cherry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Cherry Cheesecake
More from the web:
Cherry Pie Cups – from Recipe Girl
Amanda Davis
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Amy says
How wonderful you made your own pie filling. Must be delicious! Good you have the pitting gadget's help! :)
I'm hosting the Culinary Smackdown Battle for March–the theme is Cookies. Would you like to join in for the fun? It doesn' have to be a new post on your blog. You can pick your favorite cookie from your previous post too. All you have to do is link up your cookie creation. I have some great prizes waiting. Hope to see your entry soon!
Amy
http://utry.it/2011/03/culinary-smackdown-battlecookies.html
Lisa says
I'm so impressed. I have yet to learn how to can. Your cherry pie filling looks gorgeous and I can only imagine all the delicious ways you're going to use it. I have a sweet treat linky party going on at my blog and I'd like to invite you to stop by and link your pie filling up. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/02/sweets-for-saturday-6.html
Amanda says
great advice on the Clear Jel, thanks! I'm new to canning, so I can certainly appreciate any good veteran advice I can get :)
Martha A. says
It always does look like a murder scene after canning cherries! One tip on using clear jel, mix it with the sugar and then bring your water to a boil and then add it all at once. Stir, stir, stir and all the lumps will come out. It is that easy! I use it all the time to make pie filling, most of my life! It is readily available if you check around and see if you have any Amish or Mennonite stores in your area as well.
Another thing to make sure when you pick sour cherries from a neighbors cherry tree is to check for worms. We have canned some before and found alot of little guests in our jars. Not fun! Check before going to all the work!
Miz Helen says
Hi Amanda,
I am so excited that you brought your beautiful Cherry Pie Filling over for us to enjoy. Thank you for coming to Full Plate Thursday and please come back!
Miz Helen says
Hi Amanda,
Your Cherry Pie Filling looks so good. I am sure going to can this recipe this coming summer. I would like to invite you to bring a dish to Full Plate Thursday, the linky is open all week end. Thank you for sharing and have a nice day!
Amanda says
MK – that's awesome! It's so fun to have it in the pantry isn't it? Yay!
mkinthegarden says
Thank you! I was searching for a "sour cherry" cherry pie filling, as I had spent the morning picking both bings and sour cherries. Most web recipes don't specify and I really wanted the sour one. So, now that my kitchen is a disaster, I'm sitting back looking at my sour cherry cherry pie filling, thanks to you!! Loved all the pictures too.
Nelda D. Fairley says
Thanks for posting your recipes. You make canning look so easy.
Robin (Hippo Flambe) says
So excited to see a sour cherry pie filling blog post that uses clear jel! The bad canning information in the blogosphere can be frightening.
Thanks as well for the information about leaving the stems on. Next year I will follow your advice and I won't have the cherry soup in the bags problem. They still made fabulous jam and cake though.
Megan says
This looks glorious!!! I love that you canned all those cherries. I would love a stash like that.
Sue Sparks says
Your jars of pie filling look gorgeous! I really want to make apple pie filling this fall, so I'll have to check out that site:) THANKS!
Kevin says
I can just imagine all of the tasty pies to come!
Avanika [YumsiliciousBakes] says
Wow Amanda, you did a fantastic job. *cherry pitter envy*
Sharon says
i am coveting that cherry pitter!
Barbara Bakes says
I had the most scrumptious cherry turnover at a Farmer's Market in Corona Del Mar and it was because the cherry filling was so fresh and delicious. And I thought to myself I really need to learn to make my own cherry filling. You are going to have some fabulous desserts with this filling!
stefania.confidential says
Hai un bellissimo blog, complimenti :) ciao a presto
marla {family fresh cooking} says
Thanks so much for sharing all of this valuable info with us! I am loving that pitter. I bet this cherry pie filling is amazing! xo
Lana @ Never Enough Thyme says
Great job, Amanda! I've been canning for over 30 years so it's second nature to me. Glad you've overcome your fear of it!
Gera @ Sweets Foods Blog says
Glorious and colorful post! Can I get some for my breakfast? :)
Cheers,
Gera