While working my way through the sixty pounds of cherries I had ordered from the Amish store, I got to the point where I was making jam. On a whim, I minced and tossed a little fresh habanero pepper into my regular cherry lime jam.
Whoa.
It was so good I made everyone in the house come taste it right away. I even made the “I only like jelly I don’t like jam” crew try it. Now before anyone gets made at me for making a bunch of kids try habanero jam, I’d like to remind you these are MY kids and they were raised on spicy stuff. Besides, it isn’t face-meltingly hot, but it has a little background warmth that you can’t get without the little kick of habanero. The lime makes the sweet cherries just that much brighter. I’ll keep this short and sweet (like a jar of jam) and tell you that this jam is a real winner. In fact, this jam is one of the best I’ve ever made. And for those of my family and friends who like things REALLY spicy, I’ll be making another batch and doubling the amount of habanero because I love you.
Like a lot of long time canners, I like to make jam that you can’t buy in stores… or at least that are difficult to find in stores. I like to make them a little healthier while I’m at it. For this reason, I adore Pomona’s Universal Pectin.*
*This is NOT a sponsored post. Pomona’s has no idea I exist, but they oughta since I have probably paid their electric bill for a couple months with the amount of their pectin I purchase. The point is that I REALLY believe their product is the best. Seriously.
At first glance, it looks like Pomona’s is much more expensive than SureJell or Certo or Ball, but if you break it down, you’ll probably find that it is equitable or less costly. How is this possible?
- Pomona’s Universal Pectin makes three to five batches of jam per box of pectin vs. the other leading brand’s one batch per box.
- With Pomona’s, you can double, triple, quadruple each batch of jam and are limited only by the size of your jam pot, the length of your spoon, and the amount of arm power you have to stir. With the leading brand, one batch and you’re done.
- Pomona’s is designed to be a low or no sugar pectin. The range in recipes usually specifies four cups of crushed fruit to three-quarters of a cup up to two cups of sugar, honey, or agave. You can even omit sugar and use stevia, Splenda, fructose, sucanat, xylitol or nothing at all to sweeten it! With the leading brand, that ratio is turned on its head and is usually SEVEN CUPS OF SUGAR to four cups of crushed fruit. Holy moly. That makes my teeth ache!
So where do you lay your hands on this? My sister and order it in bulk together every spring from a local health food distributor. You can find it at most health food stores, through iHerb.com, PlumMarket.com, and other retailers. Recently, I got a great price on it from PlumMarket.com. Again? I’m NOT an affiliate of any of those places, I just want to share the love. Sometimes my beloved Amazon.com has it, but that’s not always a given!
Before you ask, yes, it probably IS possible to make this with another pectin, but I’ve designed the jam to work consistently with Pomona’s. Feel free to tinker with it and try to make it work with another brand of pectin, it just hasn’t been tested!
Cherry Habanero Lime Jam
Rate RecipeIngredients
- 4 cups pitted crushed sweet cherries
- 1 to 2 fresh habanero peppers stemmed and seeded and very finely diced
- 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
- zest of 2 limes
- 2 cups sugar I used raw sugar, but granulated sugar is also fine here.
- 4 teaspoons Pomona's Universal Pectin powder
- 4 teaspoons Pomona's Calcium Water mix is included in packages of Pomona's Universal Pectin
Instructions
- Measure your prepared fruit (including the habaneros) into a deep jam pot (remember it will bubble and foam and expand in size greatly as it boils!) with the lime juice and calcium water. Stir it well. Bring the fruit to a boil, stirring frequently to prevent sticking or scorching.
- While the fruit is coming to a boil, measure the sugar and pectin powder in a clean, dry bowl and whisk it together. Set aside.
- When the fruit comes to a full boil, stir the sugar/pectin mixture in all at once and stir HARD for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the sugar and pectin. Return the mixture to a boil and immediately remove from heat then stir in the lime zest.
- Fill prepared, sterile jars to within 1/4-inch of the top. Wipe the rims clean, fix new, two-piece lids in place and screw the rings to fingertip tightness. Place filled jars in a canner filled with boiling water so that they are covered by at least an inch of water. Return the mixture to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off after 10 minutes of boiling and let the jars stand in the water for 5 minutes before transferring carefully to a towel lined counter top or a cooling rack.
- Let the jars cool completely before checking the seals. The center of the lids should be sucked down and not pop when pressed gently. Remove the ring from the jars, wipe clean, label clearly and store in a cool, dark place for a year or so. Once a jar is opened, it is good for about 3 weeks, tightly covered in the refrigerator.
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
did you make this recipe?
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Reader's Thoughts...
Brenda Kern says
Hi Rebecca,
I want to try this recipe. I went to the Pomona website site and saw the same recipe but it called for 3 teaspoons of pectin and cacium water instead of 4 in your recipe. Was wondering what makes the difference?
Rebecca says
Hi Brenda- I’m not sure. My recipe has been as it is since 2013. I have no idea when they added theirs on the Pomona’s site. o.O I stand by my recipe as written. Mine might perhaps be firmer set with the higher amounts of calcium and pectin than theirs, but I can’t say it for a certainty as I haven’t tried theirs.
Mari Picarazzi says
This was my first time making jam. The flavor is great and I was totally loving the less sugar 🙂 I’m not sure what I did wrong, or if that’s the way it is, but my jam had a little bit of texture. Would that have been the pectin or the sugar?
Rebecca says
Hi Mari- When you say your jam had texture, is it from the fruit? Or did you maybe not whisk the pectin into the sugar? If the pectin doesn’t get whisked into the sugar and then the sugar mixed into the boiling fruit as directed, it may seize up in little clumps. 🙂
Julie Wray says
This sounds amazing. I have dried cherries. Would I need to rehydrate them first, ya think?
Rebecca says
Hi Julie- I’m afraid I’ve never made this with dried cherries so I’m not sure whether it would work. 🙂
Cathy says
Do you think you could make this with sour cherries? Would I need to add more sugar?
Rebecca says
I’m always a big fan of sour cherries, Cathy! I haven’t tried them in this, but I think they’d be tasty. Feel free to adjust the sweetness if desired, but I think it’d be a lovely change just making it as is with the sours. 🙂
Penny koller says
Sounds terrific Rebecca! I am a Jam maker for years now, but, by gosh I will have to try this Cherry-Habernero jam, sounds awesome! Thank you too for opening my eyes to this Pectin and reduced sugar recipes!
Rebecca says
You’re very welcome, Penny!! <3
DianeWentworth says
CAN THIS BE MADE WITH FROZEN SWEET CHERRIES?
Rebecca says
Hi Diane,
Yes, it can be made with frozen sweet cherries that you have thawed. 🙂
Connie says
I’m going to try making this on the weekend. I’m going to substitute tart cherries for the sweet cherries. I just ordered the Pomona’s pectin- i’m interested to try it. I made peach habanero jam last weekend. If you’ve never worked with habaneros, WEAR GLOVES!!! Those oils stay on your hands for days. I couldn’t find my special habanero chopping gloves, so I used a dish cloth to hold the peppers, cut them into fairly large chunks and put 1 pepper each into 2 metal tea caddies. I boiled them with the peaches. The heat and habanero flavor came through just fine.
Nancy says
I just made this jam yesterday and oh my, it is amazing! Thank you for the recipe! This was my fist time using Pomona and I don’t think I will ever use another pectin again! Using less sugar keeps the flavor of the fruit so much brighter! I also made just plain strawberry jam and the strawberry flavor was out of this world! I am a long time canner and I too, like to find different jams to try each year, this one will be in the regular rotation!
Rebecca says
Oh my goodness, Nancy! That makes my day!
Nesta says
Great recipe! I had NanKing cherry juice which I used instead. Also added 1/2 c. Diced red pepper.
Next batch, I’ll increase the heat upon hubbie’s request!
By using Paloma’s Pectin, the flavour of the fruit shines through. Love it.
Thanks for sharing!
April says
Just made a batch! I doubled the fruit, kept the sugar at 2 cups and used two habaneros. I think it has the perfect heat for anyone. My husband would have liked more though. I use Pomona Pectin also, it is the best.
Marshall says
I found this recipe and decide to make it…Today I went and bought a whole box of big beautiful Bing cherries…I have all the ingredients…this is my first attempt…
Rebecca says
Oh my goodness. I would elbow a granny for a box of fresh Bing cherries! I hope you enjoy the jam, Marshall!
Jamie says
Do you think this recipe would work with sour cherries? Maybe no lime juice or just a little lime juice?
Paulette says
Cherries are out of season right now and I have ALOT of habenaros. Can I use frozen cherries with this recipe if I thaw them out and let them dry a little?
AJ says
Can I use Montmorency cherries for this recipe? Would you recommend to add more sugar?
Rebecca says
Hi AJ- I haven’t tested this with Montmorency cherries but I always encourage playing with your food! Please let me know if you try it and whether you like the results!
AJ says
I made a batch this weekend with montmorency cherries and it turned out a little tart. Next time I will cut the lime juice in half. Very good heat!
Rebecca says
Thanks for weighing back in with the verdict! Duly noted. I’d be careful about cutting the lime juice, though, because the acidity is needed to guarantee safe canning practices. Maybe the Montmorencies won’t work as well in this jam because of that?