Crock-pot cherry butter

INGREDIENTS

• 6 lbs sweet cherries
• 1 and 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

METHODS

1. Wash & stem cherries. Then EITHER pit all of the cherries, OR use unpitted cherries and proceed as follows. Combine cherries, 1 cup sugar, water and vinegar in the Crock-Pot. Cook on HIGH until cherries are very soft and easily mashed with a food mill or potato masher, about 2 hours. If you’ve used pitted cherries, proceed to Step 2. Using a potato masher, mash cherries in the Crock-Pot vessel, then strain through a large-mesh colander (I used the pasta basket from my stockpot. I think my grill basket may have worked in a pinch.). If you don’t have a large-mesh colander or basket, you might try a food mill (the pits got stuck under mine and it would not turn). Return the strained cherry pulp to the Crock-Pot.
2. Reduce heat to LOW, stir cherries + juice and prop one edge of the lid open with the handle of a wooden spoon. Stir occassionally, keeping an eye on the heat (lower to WARM if necessary) until volume has reduced to approximately 1/4 of the original, about 8 hours in my Crock-Pot. Blend with an immersion blender or or transfer to blender/food processor: return to Crock-Pot if needed and continue to reduce until desired thickness: butter should mound on the back of a spoon, and be the thickness of a thin commercial ketchup. At this point, I transferred the mixture to an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days, until the heatwave broke.
3. Prepare canner, lids and jars.
4. Scrape cherry butter mixture into a large, wide-bottomed preserving pot. Add maple syrup, mixing well. Taste and adjust flavorings (I added the last 1/4 cup of brown sugar and lemon juice here). Bring to a simmer over low heat, using a splatter guard if possible. Simmer about 5 minutes, until heated through and well blended. Fill hots jars with hot butter to 1/2-inch headspace, making sure to bubble jars thoroughly. Wipe rims, affix lids and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Yields about 5 and 1/2 cups.