Every summer, I make a point to buy a volume approximating my weight in peaches. I slice and freeze a bunch, can halves in light syrup and make sauce (like apple only peachy), butter and jam. Glorious peach jam! Peaches have become one of those fruits that is nearly always available, but they are only transcendent during the months of July and August. Those mealy, impenetrable fruits that you pay a small fortune for during the winter can’t possibly compare.
After the jump, you’ll find my basic peach jam recipe. I like to flavor mine with cinnamon and nutmeg, but you could also go with vanilla, a bit of bourbon, ginger, lavender, rosemary or thyme. I apologize for the slightly weird picture of the peaches floating in water above, but somehow, I didn’t manage to take a single picture of the jam-making process. I made my jam on a Friday night, after an evening of cocktails and sushi, so I must have been a little addled.
In other news, it’s been almost a week since I’ve offered a giveaway, so I do believe it’s time for another. I have a lovely little half pint jar of this peach jam for one lucky reader. If you want a chance at it, leave a comment. You have until Tuesday, July 28th at 5 pm to enter. Good luck!
Ingredients
- 10 cups of peaches, peeled and chopped
- 6 cups of sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 2 lemons, zested and juiced
- 2 packets (1 box) liquid pectin
Instructions
- Fill your canning pot with water and begin to bring it to temperature. Wash your jars and rings in warm soapy water and set aside. Put your lids in a small pot of water and heat (but do not boil) in order to soften the sealing compound.
- Add peaches and sugar to a large, non-reactive pot. Stir so that the peaches begin to release their juice and mingle with the sugar. Bring to a boil and add cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon zest and juice and let jam continue to cook for about fifteen minutes. If the fruit hasn’t broken down much after that time is up, use a potato masher or immersion blender (taking care not to burn yourself with hot jam) to break down the chunks. Add pectin and bring to a rolling boil for a full five minutes.
- Turn off the heat under the jam and fill jars. Wipe rims and apply lids. Screw on the bands and lower into the water. Process in the hot water bath 10 minutes. When time is up, remove from water and cool on the counter. When the jars are cooled, check the seal by pressing on the top of the jar. If there’s no movement, the jar has sealed. Store up to one year in a cool, dark place.
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[...] a peach jam from the lovely cookbook Food in Jars, which you can find a similar, if larger, recipe here. It was a very enlightening experience, in just one recipe I glimpsed the beauty, the fun, the [...]
[...] okay, I used another recipe from Food in Jars. I have an obsession. You can find the full recipe here. For this recipe, you will [...]
Just made this and I love it! Spent days pouring over recipes for my peaches since I never made peach jam before (always make salsa though). Used the spices so it smelled like applesauce and is very sweet! Thanks for all the great recipes for us to try!
while browsing for recipes, I noticed that your content here seems to be duplicated over at:
http://cucinapanzano.blogspot.com/2011/09/summer-in-jar-amaretto-peach-jam.html
Would someone really steal copy about peach jam?!!?