White cherry appears rarely in a jam counter. It stays little known through the technical difficulty of making it as much as the limited supply of the fruit.
What is white cherry?
White cherry is the yellow-cream group of varieties within Prunus avium.
Napoleon and Rainier are the best known.
The skin runs between cream and pale pink.
The flesh is almost colourless.
The difference comes from an absence of anthocyanin pigments; abundant in red cherry, they appear in very small quantity or not at all in white varieties.
| Measure | White cherry | Red cherry |
|---|---|---|
| Anthocyanins (100 g) | 0-5 mg | 50-120 mg |
| Sugar (100 g) | 13-16 g | 12-14 g |
| Acid | Low | Medium |
| Colour of the jam | Amber-gold | Deep red |
| Pectin | Low | Low |
| Harvest | June-July | June-July |
What does the missing pigment change?
Anthocyanins do more than provide colour.
They carry a slight astringency and an acidic character too.
Those notes are absent in white cherry.
The result is a softer, sweeter profile.
That difference becomes clear in a jam; white cherry jam runs less acidic and flatter in sweetness than red cherry jam.
That is both an advantage and a difficulty; the product gives a gentler taste but needs acid added to build a balance.
How does the acid balance get built?
The natural acid of white cherry runs low; pH between 3.8 and 4.2.
The ideal pH in a jam runs 3 to 3.5.
Lemon juice goes in to reach that range.
Thirty to fifty millilitres of lemon juice per kilogram of fruit.
That addition serves two functions.
The first is the balance of taste; acid cuts the sweetness and the jam does not stay one-dimensional.
Why is pectin needed?
Cherry is among the fruits low in pectin.
Between 0.2 and 0.4 grams per hundred.
That value runs 0.6 to 1 in apple and 1 to 1.5 in quince.
Cherry jam therefore does not set on its own.
Two solutions apply.
The first is added pectin; commercial pectin at five to eight grams per kilogram of fruit.
How does a natural source of pectin get used?
A natural source can stand in for commercial pectin.
Apple is the most widespread; two apples get grated into a kilogram of cherries.
The taste of apple does not register in the jam while its pectin suffices.
Lemon pips are a source too; wrapped in muslin they join the cooking and come out afterward.
Quince peel gets used as well.
Those methods keep the product entirely natural, though the consistency stays looser than with commercial pectin.
How does white cherry jam keep its colour?
Colour poses a different problem in white cherry jam from red.
Without anthocyanins the colour depends on oxidation, in the way cut flesh darkens.
Over a long cook the jam shifts from amber to deep brown.
That is the result of caramelisation and enzymatic browning.
Lemon juice slows that process; acid lowers the enzyme activity and keeps the colour pale.
The cooking time stays short too; the golden colour disappears past forty-five minutes.
How do the stones come out?
Cherry stones do not stay in a jam; they have to come out.
A stoner is the most practical; it pushes the stone out without splitting the fruit and the cherry stays whole.
A knife works too, though it splits the fruit.
A stoner becomes obligatory where whole fruit in the jam is wanted.
The stones do not get thrown away; wrapped in muslin they can join the cooking and add a faint note of almond.
That is a traditional technique and gives the jam a characteristic depth.
What proportion of sugar applies?
The natural sugar of white cherry runs slightly above red; 13 to 16 grams per hundred.
That allows the added sugar to fall a little.
Six hundred to seven hundred grams of sugar per kilogram of fruit.
That value runs seven hundred to eight hundred in red cherry.
Sugar can fall as low as four hundred grams in high-fruit production, though the shelf life shortens and the product goes into a fridge.
Where does white cherry jam get used?
On bread at breakfast; the most classic use.
Served with clotted cream.
Stirred into yoghurt and curd cheese.
Used as a sauce over cheesecake.
As a filling for cakes and tarts.
It pairs with white chocolate too; because both components are sweet and gentle that pairing needs a source of acid, and lemon zest takes that role.
When does it get preferred over red cherry jam?
The two products do not replace one another; they serve different purposes.
White cherry jam gets preferred where a sweet, gentle profile is wanted.
A difference exists in colour too; the amber tone sits better in pale desserts and presentations.
Red cherry jam is stronger and more acidic; it works better in chocolate desserts and with intense companions.
The price differs as well; because white varieties get grown less the raw material costs more, and the jam runs 20 to 40 percent higher per kilogram.
How does white cherry jam get stored?
A sealed jar waits two years in a cool, dark place.
Light is a clearer problem in pale jams; ultraviolet light darkens the colour and the jar stays in the dark.
A month in a fridge once opened.
Two or three weeks in high-fruit products.
A clean spoon gets used; a knife that has spread bread brings crumbs and moisture into the jar and mould begins.
