Chokecherry Syrup

Late summer marks the return of a northern treasure - the chokecherry.


Photo Credit: https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/...717_a5978af034_z.jpg

I love chokecherries, and have loved them for as long as I can remember. In fact, When I lived for a few years in Lewistown, Montana, one of my favourite times of the year was the Chokecherry Festival, held in early September.


Photo Credit: http://www.anauthenticlife.com...2012/09/IMG_6899.jpg

Those of you not living in the northern United States or southern Canada are probably asking, what is a chokecherry? Well, it’s hard to describe, even though I’ve lived with them all my life. The are small, dark-purple, berry-like fruits growing in clusters on bushes that can be found just about anywhere in the northern USA, east of the Rocky Mountains - or in southern Canada. Along roadsides, in meadows or even in back yards, these hardy shrubs are easily recognised by their white blossoms in the spring, and their locations are carefully marked against the day that the cherries ripen later in the year.


Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/...es/m/in/photostream/

They are quite astringent when eaten fresh, but the addition of some sugar sugar (or other sweetener) transforms them into something wonderful and unique - a truly special treat that has everyone - from old grandmothers to twenty-something bachelors - buying canning jars in order to preserve chokecherries in almost any form imaginable: syrup, jam, jelly, wine...even mead.

Wikipedia provides a more scientific description:

quote:

Prunus virginiana, commonly called bitter-berry, chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry and western chokecherry (also black chokecherry for P. virginiana var. demissa), is a species of bird cherry (Prunus subgenus Padus) native to North America; the natural historic range of P. virginiana includes most of the continent, except for the far north and far south.

Chokecherry is a suckering shrub or small tree growing to 16 feet tall. The leaves are oval, 1.25–4 in. long, with a coarsely serrated margin. The flowers are produced in racemes of 15-30 in late spring (well after leaf emergence). The fruit are about [4/10 of an inch in] diameter, range in color from bright red to black, with a very astringent taste, being both somewhat sour and somewhat bitter. The very ripe berries are dark in color and less astringent and more sweet than the red berries…. Chokecherries are very high in antioxidant pigment compounds, such as anthocyanins….

For many Native American tribes of the Northern Rockies, Northern Plains, and boreal forest region of Canada and the United States, chokecherries were the most important fruit in their diets. The bark of chokecherry root was once made into an asperous-textured concoction used to ward off or treat colds, fever and stomach maladies by native Americans The inner bark of the chokecherry, as well as red osier dogwood, or alder, was also used by natives in their smoking mixtures, known as kinnikinnick, to improve the taste of the bearberry leaf. The chokecherry fruit can be used to make a jam, jelly, or syrup, but the bitter nature of the fruit requires sugar to sweeten the preserves….

Chokecherry is also used to craft wine in the western United States mainly in the Dakotas and Utah as well as in Manitoba, Canada.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_virginiana

In addition, Wiki relates that the chokecherry plays a very important role in my ancestral state of North Dakota:

quote:

In 2007, Governor John Hoeven signed a bill naming the chokecherry the official fruit of the state of North Dakota, in part because its remains have been found at more archeological sites in the Dakotas than anywhere else.

The most basic product made from chokecherries is chokecherry syrup; in fact, this syrup, called wojapi in the Lakota tongue, was and remains a favourite condiment for Native American frybread:



http://foodsoftheworld.activeb...bread_topic2472.html

While going through some old clippings and recipes, I found instructions for making chokecherry syrup written by my father - who was born and raised in Killdeer, North Dakota; this recipe came from his mother - my grandmother - and lays out the procedure pretty well:

quote:

Chokecherry Syrup

In a large pot, cover cherries with water. Bring to a boil, cover pot and simmer for about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally and mash cherries with the back of a wooden spoon or a potato masher.

Drain juice off using a strainer, cheesecloth or food mill. Bring the juice to a slow boil and add 1 cup of sugar for each 1 cup of juice. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Set sterilised canning jars on the rack in the canner and add syrup to jars, filling to 1/4-inch from the top. Screw the lids onto the jars. Cover the jars with at least 1 inch of water and bring to a rolling boil. Process for 10 minutes in boiling water bath. Set the jars in a draft-free place and allow to cool naturally. Check for seal.

I’ll see if I am able to get out this weekend or next in order to gather some chokecherries; if I can, I’ll prepare a pictorial.

For those interested, here is the distribution of the chokecherry:



The bushes are found along roadsides usually - or on hillsides...they look like this:



My youngest son and I picked a bunch of chokecherries on Saturday when we went to do some driving around and hiking in the mountains; I didn't have a camera, but they looked just like the un-picked ones pictured above, right down to the colours of the leaves.

We picked about 12 cups altogether, which are currently in the freezer in a gallon-sized ziplock bag with all the air squeezed out. I think this should be enough to make at least 12 half-pints of syrup (if anyone knows or suspects otherwise, please let me know), so I will see about doing that this week. If we need more, I'll wait until I can pick some more somwtime in the next few days.

Alrighty - for future reference, after setting aside the required chokecherries for my beer (1 generous cup) and my wine (3 pounds), I had exactly 6.5 pounds of chokecherries left for syrup. Being as careful as I could be with the process, I ended up with 5 pints, 1 half-pint and 1 quarter-pint (luckily, I had one such jar on-hand to use) of syrup, all of which are being processed now, as per the recipe above. There was just enough left over to sample a taste, and I must say that it turned out very well! We may or may not make more chokecherry syrup this year, depending on how things go, but we will, at least, have some to get us through the winter.

quote:

Originally posted by tasunkawitko:
Chokecherry Syrup

In a large pot, cover cherries with water. Bring to a boil, cover pot and simmer for about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally and mash cherries with the back of a wooden spoon or a potato masher.

Drain juice off using a strainer, cheesecloth or food mill. Bring the juice to a slow boil and add 1 cup of sugar for each 1 cup of juice. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Set sterilised canning jars on the rack in the canner and add syrup to jars, filling to 1/4-inch from the top. Screw the lids onto the jars. Cover the jars with at least 1 inch of water and bring to a rolling boil. Process for 10 minutes in boiling water bath. Set the jars in a draft-free place and allow to cool naturally. Check for seal.

Thank you for the recipe. Our cherry picking time has passed. I'll have to wait till next year to try it.

We do not have chokecherries here but we have lots of bitter cherry trees. More specifically we have Prunus emarginata var. mollis. It grows like a tree. We have some around here that are over 35' high, they reportedly can get up to 50' tall. The fruit is bitter and can act as a laxative. However, I have read that boiling the fruit destroys whatever causes that property.

I found this video - "Black bear eating berries 30 feet up bitter cherry tree"




It is worth pointing out that the seeds, leaves, roots, twigs, and bark of ALL wild cherries, including choke, bitter, and eastern black, contain compounds with high levels of cyanide. Effects of eating those parts of the plant can vary from minor discomfort to serious illness and even death. I have read cautions about making sure all the seed is removed and ensuring seeds and seed parts do not get "processed" into foodstuffs made from the cherries.

That said, I have also read that the cherries are excellent for making syrups, jellies, and compotes. What I was lacking was a good recipe -- till now!

I can't wait to try it out, tas. Thanks again for sharing.

I was raised on chokecherry syrup and jelly and fondly recall picking buckets full of them each fall. Sure wish they were available here in the desert. Luckily, I can grow peaches, which I can and also use to make syrup, jam, and jelly.

Good morning, guys -

Grenadier, give it a go! It's as easy as can be, and has some great results. I don't know much about the variety that grows in your area, but I am guessing that this should work just as well with them, as long as the cherries are edible. Let me know how it goes ~

Desert Ram - those peaches look great! I love home-canned peaches, and I am guessing that that peach syrup is the bomb, as my kids would say. If we come across the opportunity for any fresh, orchard-grown peaches up here (a truck comes now and then, but not always), I will have to give that a try!

When I was a kid, my Mom used to make lots of choke cherry jelly. One batch didn't turn out right and got really thick. We used to stick a spoon into the jar and use it as an all day sucker.

Anyone have a good way to get rid of the seeds?

Yes, Tas, they are just as edible as chokecherries.

quote:

Bitter Cherry

Leaf: Alternate, simple, deciduous, oblong to oval, from 1 to 3 inches long, serrated margins, small glands on basal serrations or petiole, dark green above and paler below.

Flower: Perfect, small, white, borne in a loose, flat-topped cluster; appearing in late spring to early summer.

Fruit: A bright red, juicy, drupe (cherry) about 1/4 inch in diameter, edible but bitter .

Twig: Round and slender, dark reddish brown and smooth; spur shoots common on older twigs.

Bark: Thin, dark reddish brown or bronze, tending to break and curl cross-wise; has prominent horizontal lenticels.

Form: A small tree or shrub to 50 feet tall and 18 inches in diameter, with an oblong crown.

As for the seeds, there really isn't any way to do it except the way that Grandma did it, which is to cover the cherries with water, bring it all to a boil and simmer the mess until the chokecherries swell up and either burst or can be crushed with a wooden spoon.

I simmered them for 30 minutes and used a potato masher when I did mine; with gentle application, it seemed to work pretty well. 45 minutes might have been a bit better, but I can't say for sure. Just be sure not to crush the seeds or get them mixed up into the juice/syrup/jelly etc. They should be strained out, along with the skins and pulp, after boiling the chokecherries.

I too, ate a lot of chokechery jam growing up in Utah. Good stuff!