The Mon Chéri chocolate is a sour cherry in liqueur, encased in dark chocolate. That is exactly the combination we recreate as a spread: sour cherries, chocolate, spirits. Nothing more, nothing less.
We made this jam for the first time a few years ago as a gift. A friend loves Mon Chéri, and we wanted something for Christmas that captured the taste of the chocolate but could be spread on a roll. Now we make a batch every November because it sits comfortably between the biscuit tin and the breakfast table.
Mon Chéri Jam with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 5 ✓
- 160 g dark chocolate
- 800 g sour cherries frozen, defrosted
- 400 g 2:1 jam sugar
- 80 g dark rum
- 4 Mon Chéri chocolates
Instructions 0 / 4
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1
Chop the chocolate.
Break the dark chocolate into pieces, place in the mixing bowl and chop for 3 sec / speed 5, then set aside.
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2
Cook the sour cherries.
Add the sour cherries and jam sugar to the mixing bowl and simmer for 20 min / 98°C / speed 2.
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3
Blend in the rum and chocolate.
Add the rum and chocolate and blend for 5 sec / speed 8.
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4
Fill the jars.
Fill the jam into sterilised jars, place 1 Mon Chéri chocolate into each jar, seal and turn upside down for 5 minutes.
Tip: Instead of frozen sour cherries you can use jarred cherries. Drain them well before cooking.
If you want to reduce the sugar, this recipe works just as well with 2:1 jam sugar with a low-sugar alternative sweetener.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Taking the chocolate apart and putting it back together
A Mon Chéri chocolate is made up of three layers that have to come together in a specific order for the whole thing to work. The sour cherry comes first, the spirit surrounds it, and the chocolate seals everything in without cooking the cherry juice. Once you understand that, you also understand why our jam is made in exactly that order.
The 800 g of sour cherries are cooked with the jam sugar for 20 minutes at 98°C on speed 2. That is the stage at which the jam reaches its setting temperature and becomes stable. Only then do the 80 g of dark rum and the finely chopped dark chocolate go in, for just 5 seconds at speed 8. Long enough to blend everything in evenly, but too short for the alcohol to cook off completely.
Why the chocolate must never cook
160 g of dark chocolate is not just flavouring but fat and cocoa mass. If the chocolate went in from the start and simmered with the cherries for 20 minutes, two unpleasant things would happen: the cocoa butter would separate because it is well above its melting point at 98°C and the emulsion would break. And the chocolate would lose its characteristic cocoa quality because the bitter compounds would be drawn out.
In the Thermomix® we solve this by setting the chopped chocolate aside while the cherries cook. Once the jam is done, the mixing bowl is still hot enough to melt the chocolate completely and spread it evenly in 5 seconds at speed 8. That is residual heat, not active cooking. Just like the chocolate shell of a Mon Chéri melts on your tongue rather than in a bain-marie.
The spirit goes in last
The original chocolate uses cognac or something similar to kirsch inside the sour cherry. After several tests we settled on 80 g of dark rum because it complements the chocolate better and tastes rounder in a spread than a sharp fruit brandy. Anyone with cognac, brandy or a good cherry liqueur in the cupboard can swap it in one to one; the quantities stay the same.
The important thing is that the spirit only goes into the mixing bowl AFTER the cooking stage. At 98°C over 20 minutes, almost all the alcohol would evaporate, taking a large part of the flavour with it. The 5 seconds at speed 8 with the lid almost closed are enough to fold the rum in without the jam cooking further. That way the flavour of the spirit stays in the jar, and with it the defining Mon Chéri character.
The chocolate in the jar
After filling, comes the step that truly makes this a Mon Chéri jam: one whole Mon Chéri chocolate goes into each 250 ml jar. We add it to the still-hot jam and seal immediately. The chocolate shell melts slowly, the liqueur centre spreads through the jam, and the sour cherry from inside the chocolate stays as a small surprise in the jar.
We turn the jars upside down for 5 minutes. That is the classic vacuum method: the hot jam sterilises the lid, and a vacuum forms as the jar cools. After that, leave to cool normally and label the jars.
Three points where the jam can go wrong
Watery jam from cherries that were not drained
Frozen sour cherries release a lot of water as they defrost. If all that liquid goes straight into the mixing bowl, the jam will be thinner than it should be and will take longer to set. Our fix: Tip the defrosted cherries into a sieve and leave to drain for 2 minutes. The juice can be caught and used for a sorbet or a sauce. If you use jarred cherries, do not skip the draining step, otherwise the whole jar ends up swimming in liquid in the mixing bowl.
Bitter jam from chocolate that cooked too long
Anyone who accidentally adds the chocolate to the mixing bowl before the 20 minutes are up will know the result: the jam turns unpleasantly bitter and loses its shine. Our fix: Transfer the chopped chocolate to a small bowl as soon as it comes out of the mixing bowl. That way it cannot accidentally cook along. Only after the beep at the 20-minute mark does it go back into the mixing bowl together with the rum.
The chocolate dissolves completely
If we add the Mon Chéri chocolate too early, meaning when the jam is still above 90°C straight from the cooking stage, the chocolate shell melts entirely and the liqueur centre spreads out before the jar is sealed. Our fix: Fill in the hot jam, then wait 60 seconds and only then add the chocolate. That way it rests in a warm but no longer boiling bed. The shell melts slowly and the centre remains recognisable.
Spirits we have tested
- Dark rum (standard): Rounds out the chocolate and adds a warm sweetness. Our first choice.
- Cognac: Closer to the original chocolate, but slightly drier. Particularly good when the jam is used as a topping on vanilla ice cream.
- Kirsch: Brings out the sour cherry, but can become dominant. 60 g instead of 80 g works better here.
- Without alcohol: 80 g of cherry juice with 1 tbsp of almond extract replaces the spirit. The jam is then suitable for children but keeps for only about 4 weeks in the fridge rather than 6 months.
Gifting and storing
With 800 g of cherries, 400 g of jam sugar and the chocolate we get four jars of 250 ml each. Exactly the right quantity for a gift set with two jars of this jam, a bag of homemade apricot jam and a strawberry jam with Cointreau. We always note the filling date on the label along with the note “contains alcohol”.
Sealed and stored in a cool, dark place, the jam keeps for about 6 months thanks to the alcohol and the jam sugar. Done properly with the upside-down vacuum method, you can get up to 9 months. Once opened, the jar goes in the fridge and keeps well for 4 weeks. The Mon Chéri chocolate in the jar softens over the first few days and gradually releases its liqueur. Anyone who wants to avoid that can add the chocolate on top as decoration at serving time instead.
What we eat the jam with
On a croissant or fresh white bread is the obvious choice. We particularly like it as a topping on vanilla ice cream or with a crepe and chocolate sauce. A tablespoon stirred into a bowl of plain yoghurt with a few chopped almonds makes a breakfast that tastes distinctly like dessert. Anyone planning a cheesecake can thin the jam with a splash of hot water into a sauce and pour it over the cake while still warm.
Once you have worked through all the classic jam recipes, take a look at our other preserves: Raspberry jam with the Thermomix®, Mandarin jam and Jam without jam sugar.
Goes well with: White toast bread, brioche and pancakes.
