One of my favourites is cherry and elderflower jam. The arrival of the elder blossom coincides with our first cherries of the year. There is nothing like picking something straight from your garden and turning into a delicious recipe. As with most jams there are local and favourite variations to making a good jam.

 

 

 

•    1.8kg of Cherries
•    1.25kg of sugar,
•    2 lemons
•    6 elder flower heads

Elderflower jam method:

Put the cherries in a pan and heat slowly. I usually leave the pips in the cherries and then strain through a colander when the boiling has reduced them to a mush or pulp. Once the pips are removed bring the cherry juices and pulp back to the boil and slowly add the sugar. I find that warming the sugar before hand in an oven works best, it aids the dissolving process. I rapidly boil the sugar and cherry pulp for about 10 minutes adding the elderflowers after 5 minutes. Finally I empty the jam into sterilised glass jars.
The smell of the cherries and the elderflowers fills your kitchen with a fabulous aroma. What a way to start a days cooking :)