She's been taking an occasional cooking class at Measuring Up Cooking for Kids in Scarborough for the past couple of years. Instead of a week-long camp, she and her sister decided they wanted to do a weekly class to keep themselves busy all summer. They learned how to make everything from pretzel rolls to lobster raviolis to creme brulee to butter biscuits and peach jam for the past two months. The whole family has benefited from these cooking class and we've had a tasty summer!
The girls have not just been cooking in class though, they have been on roll of canning jam at home too. They've made strawberry and strawberry rhubarb jam, spiced peach jam (the addition of a teaspoon of cinnamon in a standard peach jam recipe is extra tasty) and our latest - and most favorite recipe this summer - spiced Bing cherry jam.
Bing cherries are on sale this week at Hannaford and although we always can fruit we've picked ourselves, the jam we made from the grocery store cherries was really tasty. A co-worker who tried it said it "tasted like Christmas." I think the combination of cinnamon, cloves and a bit of Amaretto does give it a spiced holiday drink taste.
My 15-year-old suggested I share the recipe here on the chance others want to take advantage of the cherry sale this week to make this jam. Trust me that on a biscuit (the girls learned how to make yummy homemade biscuits at cooking class this summer), this is the tastiest summer breakfast!
The biggest hassle of this recipe is pitting the cherries. My kids have said it is worth the time for the end result. With two people pitting cherries we've made this recipe and canned the jam in less than 90 minutes.
BING CHERRY JAM
1 quart (4 cups) chopped and pitted Bing cherries
1 package powdered pectin
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup almond liqueur (we use Amaretto)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
4 1/2 cups sugar
Combine all ingredients, except sugar, in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps tightly. Tip upside down on a cutting board for 20 minutes. Turn cap side up to cool completely. Should hear the pop of the vacuum seal cap lock in to place after a couple of minutes.
Here's the recipe the girls learned to make at their Measuring Up Cooking for Kids class this summer that we really like.
BISCUITS
1/2 cup butter
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut butter into flour, sugar, baking powder and salt with pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in milk until dough leaves sides of bowl. Turn on to lightly floured surface knead lightly ten times roll or pat to 1/2 inch thick. Do not handle dough too much. Cut with round cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart for crusty sides bake until golden brown, 10- 12minutes.
The homemade biscuits are topped with the girls' spiced peach jam. When making these biscuits we've also substituted 1 cup of the all purpose white flour for the "white whole wheat" variety to add an extra fiber boost.
If anyone has any favorite pear butter recipe or, vegetable pickling recipe, let us know. The girls want to try some other canning projects before school starts.
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