Wash and de-stem the cherries. Using a cherry pitter, pit them over a bowl so that you lose as little juice as possible.

Stick a knife into the bowl and roughly chop up the cherries before adding them to a large pot.

Sprinkle the lime juice out over the cherries and gently stir them to coat.

Stir the red pepper into the cherries.

Finely mince the habanero pepper. Remember-- the more pith and seeds you keep will increase the heat. Add the pepper to the pot as well.

Stir the pectin into the fruit and heat the mixture on low heat, continuing to stir occasionally, until the pectin's melted.

Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring the mixture to a roiling bowl.

Stir in the sugar until almost completely melted. Allow the mixture to reach a rolling boil again.

If the pot's foaming stir in the butter. If not, you can omit it entirely. Otherwise let the jam boil for a full minute.

Remove the pot from heat. Skim off any excess foam. Let the mixture rest for a minute or two.

Fill canning jars up to a 1/4" from the top.

Wipe the rim of a jar with a damp paper towel, place flat lid on top of jar and place band on screwing until just hand tightened. Repeat for each additional jar until the jam is all canned.

Process your filled jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Then store or gift accordingly.

Notes

To avoid a painful case of Hot Pepper Hands, use a pair of rubber gloves when slicing and dicing the habanero peppers.