Sour Cherry Walnut Conserve

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 3 oranges
• 3 lemons
• 5 cups sour cherries, pitted with juice
• 2 cups granny smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 3/4 cup water
• 3 1/2 cups sugar,
• 3/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
• 1/4 cup walnut liqueur

Recipe

• 1 prepare canner, jars and lids.
• 2 wash oranges and lemons well, dry.
• 3 zest all three oranges and 1 lemon.
• 4 cut oranges and lemons in half, remove seeds.
• 5 scoop out pulp and place in a large stainless steel saucepan.
• 6 add zest, cherries with any juice, apples and water.
• 7 bring to a boil over medium high heat stirring constantly.
• 8 reduce heat and boil gently stirring frequently until cherries are soft, around 10 minutes.
• 9 add sugar and stir until dissolved.
• 10 return to a gentle boil, stirring frequently until mixture thickens, around 35 to 40 minutes.
• 11 remove from heat.
• 12 stir in walnuts and liqueur.
• 13 over medium high heat return to a boil.
• 14 boil hard for 4 minutes.
• 15 remove from heat and test gel.
• 16 if gel stage has been reached skim off foam.
• 17 if gel stage has not been reached return to heat and boil an additional 4 minutes~re-test.
• 18 ladle hot conserve into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch head space.
• 19 remove bubbles, wipe rims, adjust lids and screw down ring to finger tight.
• 20 place jars in boiling water bath canner.
• 21 process for 10 minutes.
• 22 remove canner lid.
• 23 let jars stand 5 minutes.
• 24 remove jars, cool and store.