Rose & Steve's Recipes

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=== Sour Cherry pie filling ===

Sour Cherry Pie Filling

**MAKES:** 4 quart jars

**ACTIVE TIME:** 2 hours
Now that I preserve this sour cherry pie filling, there can be a pie on the Thanksgiving table every year, and another served up for Christmas, deep in the cold winter months.
In the mood for a crisp, a crumble, a slump, or a Betty? This pie filling works in any of these incarnations.

8 pounds (3.6 kg) tart (sour) cherries weighed before pitting
(1 lb of pitted cherries ≈ 1 pint of filling)
  * 
  * 1 cup (8 oz., 240 ml) water (3/4)
  * 3 cups (21 oz., 600 g) granulated sugar (2 1/4)
  * ⅓ cup (scant 3 oz., 80 ml) fresh (2 1/4)
  * lemon juice
  * ¾ cup (3 oz., 85 g) ClearJel (not instant) or cornstarch
  * 2 teaspoons almond extract (optional

  - Pit the cherries over a bowl to capture all the juices.
  - Whisk together the water, sugar, lemon juice, and Clearlel in an 8-quart heavy preserving pot and bring to a boil, stirring con-stantly. Add the fruit and juices, bring to a rolling boil, and let boil for exactly 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
  - Funnel the filling into the warm jars leaving 1-inch headspace. Add ½ teaspoon almond extract to each jar, if using. Using a bubbler or plastic knife, remove any air bubbles (which also helps incorporate the extract). Wipe the rims of the jars well with a damp paper towel. Place the lids and rings on the jars and finger tighten the rings.
  - Process in a boiling-water bath for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat but leave the jars in the canner for 10 minutes to prevent siphoning.

The pie filling is shelf stable for at least a year.