Peach Vanilla Jam

Wendi–you guessed right!

All those peaches were procured as part of a jam making mission. A massive jam making mission.

We’re about to enter a particularly busy stretch in our lives where we spend a good chunk of our lives on the road. It should be fun, and hopefully not to exhausting (I’m not a big fan of long car rides).

Luckily, I realized this busy time was almost upon us a few weeks ago, right around the time when I read an article that said peach season was likely to peter out earlier than normal this year, thanks to the uber-heat we’ve had all summer. In a panic, I scanned the calendar for time to put up some peaches and settled on last weekend as the perfect time.

As luck would have it, I realized early last week that there were local places to pick your own peaches, so with the cooperation (just barely) of the weather, Noel and I were off to pick at Larriland on Saturday. Which set Eileen and I up for a lovely–cool and rainy–day for canning on Sunday. It’s so much nicer to stand over a stove with a pot of hot fruit and a canner on a cool day than on a hot one!

Three hours and 25 pounds of peaches later we had 30 odd jars of jam in two flavors–peach and peach vanilla. And we had learned a few valuable lessons about jam making. 1) Big batches take longer to cook (duh) 2) peeling peaches is annoying, even if you boil them first and 3) sometimes you can have peach FAIL but don’t let it ruin your day!

Peach Vanilla Jam
Adapted from multiple sources

Of the two types of peach jam we made on Sunday (we also made blueberry jam, but that’s a whole other story) this peach vanilla combination really was something special in my book. The vanilla bean + peach made this jam taste rich and almost decadent on the tongue. After tasting the cooled jam, I immediately wished we had made more. Guess there’s always next year!

Ingredients:

6 cups mashed peaches (from about 12 peaches–each peach yields about 1/2 cup mash)
3/8 cup lemon or lime juice
3/4 cup honey
4 1/2 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin powder
6 teaspoons calcium water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise

Directions:

In a large bowl combine mashed peaches, vanilla extract, scraped seeds from vanilla bean and whole vanilla bean. Allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Pour fruit mixture into a large stockpot. Add lemon or lime juice and calcium water. Bring fruit to a boil. While fruit is cooking, add pectin powder to the honey and mix well.

Once the fruit is boiling, add the pectin-honey mixture and stir vigorously for 1-2 minutes to make sure the honey dissolves. Return mixture to a boil and cook until the jam is set (ours took about another 10 minutes of cooking). Use the plate test–place a plate in the freezer to get it cold, remove and add 1 teaspoon of jam to the plate, then place the plate back in the freezer for 1 minute; if the jam wrinkles when pushed gently with your finger when you take it back out, the jam is set–to check if you jam is set.
Once the jam is set, remove the vanilla bean. Spoon into prepared jars and process.*

Allow jars to cool on the counter for 24 hours, then remove the rings to check the seals. Store in a cool dry place for up to one year.

*If this is your first time canning, I suggest you read the USDA guidelines here, because I’ve glossed over a lot of details in the instructions above!

See those little flecks of vanilla? AMAZING! Especially on cornbread, as shown here!

{ 12 comments } |  Print This Post |  Email This Post |