Saturday, June 23, 2007

5 kilos, 7 jars, 3 different jams and a dessert to boot

I bought 5 kg of Hungarian sour cherries from Tallinn Central Market on Monday, which K very kindly stoned for me, making a horrible mess in the lounge! Not that I'm complaining, as wiping those red stains off the floor was a considerably easier task than manually picking through million juicy cherries.. On the other hand, he got to eat all the cherries he fancied, so he didn't complain either..



We made three types of jam: 2 jars of cherry compote to K's liking (300 grams of sugar per 1 kg of stoned fruit, simmered for 20 minutes on a low heat), 3 jars of cherry jam to my liking (400 grams of jam sugar per 1 kg of stoned fruit, simmered for 20 minutes on a low heat; photo below) and 2 jars of cherry marmalade with Amaretto and almond slices (400 grams of jam sugar per 1 kg of stoned fruit, 50 ml Amaretto, 100 grams almond slices, simmered for 15 minutes on a low heat). As the cherries were really juicy, we didn't bother adding any water to them. The jars were 500 ml on average.



All experienced jam-makers know, of course, that you're supposed to skim off the foam that appears on the surface of the simmering jam. What some of you may not know is that this foamy cherry infused liquid can be used to make a super-über-delicious roosamanna or whipped semolina mousse:



Note my new pair of Moomin spoons - a gift K. brought back from his latest business trip to Finland. Can you guess the characters??

Have a lovely weekend! We're off to Paluküla to celebrate summer solstice - jaanipäev - tonight and pick wild strawberries, which, as you can see here, are already ripe!

14 comments:

Anne said...

Oh, yum!! I want cherries too!

Katie Zeller said...

He ATE the sour cherries?!?
They mustn't be as sour as mine...
Your preserves look yummy!

thepassionatecook said...

sour cherries are not something you can buy in this country (at least I haven't seen any yet)... i love them, especially as a compote with a dark chocolate souffle or a chocolate tarte - a match made in heaven!

lobstersquad said...

you make your northern fruits sound so incredibly appealing. I´m now wondering whether José can be trained to stoe cherries...

K and S said...

everything sounds wonderful! good job K!

Plume said...

Mmm cherries...
The moomins characters are Sniff and the Snorkmaiden!

Trig said...

I'm really into ideas for using leftovers to create new dishes, so your mousse really caught my eye. Great stuff!

Maarja said...

oleks mul ka keegi kes kirsihunnikud puhastaks.

Anonymous said...

Pille, hilinenud õnnesoovid blogi sünnipäevaks!
See on üks kolmest kõige lahedamast blogist, mida loen, ja seda umbes 10 erineval põhjusel. Ja üks neist põhjustest on see, et kui ümberringi on väga kiireks läinud, siis Sinu juurest saan teada, milline järjekordne kihvt aastaaeg meil pärale on jõudnud...ja et maasikad on valmis (oeh, üllatus mulle)... ja et juuni algul Prantsusmaal olles tasub kaasa haarata punt verivärskeid spargleid... et siis nii finer things in life kui ka lihtsalt meeldetuletus, mis ikkagi elus oluline on.
Terviseks!

Shayne said...

my husband so loves sour cherries; however, they are not easy to come by in Michigan. I don't know why because we are the perfect climate for it. To tell the truth I think most get sold to large companies and shipped out. Well this year we had a frost that hit the buds and now we don't have many cherries at all of any kind. I love your pitting story and I hope to visit Finland in the summer sometime; however, it was great in December too.

Anonymous said...

I've never had a sour cherry, but your jams and compote sure sound yummy! :)

It's the Snork Maiden and Sniff!!! Love the spoons! :)

Anonymous said...

We're going to Poland in a few weeks and then I will buy lots of sour cherries, they are the best for jams and compotes!

The spoons are supercute!

Shaun said...

Pille - Look at you! So much glorious jam. I am a little envious right now - not only because you make jam with such confidence but also because you have an array of gorgeous berries from which to choose. I have tried to find blackberries to no avail. I suppose I should just enjoy the persimmons while they are in season, especially now that the feijoa's time has passed. I did see chestnuts at a local greengrocer's the other day. I didn't even know we had chestnut trees in New Zealand. Maybe they are imported from Australia. I will ask before I buy some. Sorry, this is a long-winded way of saying your jams look fabulous and how I wish my angelheart would trawl through kilos of cherries for me as your K does for you.

Pille said...

Anne - hope you'll get some nice ones at the market!

Katie - I guess so. They're definitely less sour than the sweet cherries (morellos) they sell here, but still sweet enough for eating as they are.

Johanna - I so need to pick up some cherries - and dark chocolate - now. Your combinations sound divine!

Lobstersquad - maybe Jose & K can have a cherry-stoning-cook-off in August? Would that be a motivation enough to learn?

K&S - thank you! And yes, K is a great assistant chef in the kitchen:)

Plume - well guessed!

Trig - the mousse can be made from any juice or fruit pulp, and the mixture of cherry 'foam' and cherry compote syrup was excellent!

Mann - pane aga mees ja laps tööle :)

KA - suured tänud ilusate sõnade eest! Mõnikord on mul isegi kahju, et blogi emakeelne pole. Saaksin jagada infot, et Keskturul müüakse juba kohalikke nuikapsaid ja peete ja kukeseeni jms.

Shayne - you may be right about the bulk industrial buyers - it makes sense. Hope you'll get some cherries after all. Finland and Estonia (and all other Nordic countries) are great this time of the year indeed.

Joey - there are different sour cherries - some are too sour to eat as they are, others are just juicy and sour, but yet sweet enough. And you're right about the spoons - you do know your Moomins:)

Dagmar - enjoy! I might pick up some more at the market today, just to make sure we've got plenty for the winter!

Shaun - thank you for your kind words. I'm sure you have a great choice of fruit & berries in NZ, too - just very different from what we've got here. Chestnuts, persimmons and feijoas are all exotic rarities here;)