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blackchocolate and cherriesThis morning when I came down into the kitchen I was greeted by a beautiful sight: a row of eight jars filled with sticky sweet jammy goodness shimmering in the morning sun.

The other day my big sister called me to tell me about a jam she had just made and told me I had to try it out. So being the good little sister that I am, I followed her lead and made a batch yesterday evening. And my big sister was right, it is absolutely scrumptious.

Like most jams it was fairly simple to make, the only thing that took a little while was getting rid of the cherry pips. But once I had about a kilo (about 35ounces or 2.2 pounds) all I needed to do was put the whole lot in a big pot, add jam sugar (according to what the packet told me to do) and stirr.

When the cherries were nice and soft I used my hand held blender to make sure no big bits of cherry were left. And then, finally, I added the special ingredients: Dark Chocolate. I used the type that had a very high percentage of cocoa (mine had 80% but I am sure it would work with a smaller number too). When I dropped the pieces into the mix the smell was intoxicating, the aroma of melting chocolate mixed with sweet cherries filled my home and I couldn’t help but do an excited little dance while stirring the dark red yumminess.

Once I had let the jam boil for the required time I scooped the ruby red jam into clean jars (I always rinse mine out with boiling water), sealed them with lids and turned them on their heads to set (my mum always does it this way to create a vacuum). Of course I had a sneaky lick the spoon when all was done and mix of cherries and chocolate is truly delicious, turning my morning toast into a delectable treat.