Chokecherry Syrup

 For the first year ever, we have a ton of chokecherries and beat the backyard creatures to them.

Ingredients

• 8 cups chokecherry juice (extracted from about 1 1/2 gallons of chokecherries)*
• 1 package pectin
• 10 cups sugar

Equipment:

• 7 pint jars
• 7 rings
• 7 lids
• canning equipment (funnel, pot, rack, jar grabber)

Instructions

1. To extract the juice, place the cleaned chokecherries in a large pot and add enough water to just barely cover them. Put them on the stove and allow to come to a boil, then reduce to simmer.  After about 30 minutes, the berries will have released their juice. The liquid in the pot will be opaque and a dark mauve color.

2. After the chokecherries are finished cooking, strain them and the juice through a fine mesh sieve over a large bowl. Gently press on the chokecherries in the sieve to get out any of the liquid, but be careful not to mash it too much. Give your pot a rinse and a quick scrub to remove any bits left. Measure the juice after it has been strained; you should have about eight cups. If you have less, you can half this recipe or you can cook more chokecherries to get the right amount of juice.

3. Sterilize 7 pint jars.

4. Place the juice back into the stockpot. It should still be a little warm. If, for some reason it’s not, warm it up, but don’t let it boil. Gently sprinkle the pectin into the juice while stirring, then allow to boil.  Add the sugar while you stir to help it dissolve. Keep stirring and allow the mixture to come to a boil again. Stir constantly and let it boil for one minute, then remove from heat and let it settle a bit. Skim off any foam and discard.

5. Pour the syrup into the pint jars, giving about an inch of headspace. Wipe the lip of the jars with a clean, damp towel (this removes any syrup that was spilled in the process) and place a lid on top. Seal it with the ring.

6. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

NOTES:

• Instead of a sieve or cheesecloth, I mashed the juice out using the food mill and medium disc.  
• Maybe because of this method, I ended up with 12 cups of juice instead of 8.  The rest is in a quart jar, maybe to be turned into jelly.
• I added about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice per another recipe.  (It actually called for lemon and orange juice to be added, but I didn't have any orange.)
• I also added about 1 tsp. of almond extract to this 8 cup recipe.  (I don't think Dad would add almond extract to his, but I thought I'd try it.)