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Join me as I traverse my way through recipes for meals and desserts, and a whole host of other things in the world of cuisine.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Peach Vanilla Jam

It's that time of year now, where Peaches are ripe, (or ripening if your weather is like ours here in Western Canada).  I LOVE peaches in any way, shape, or form, except for Canned.  They're so versatile, and can be used in so so many ways.  

There are many recipes out there for luscious peach desserts, but I wanted to try something that's a little less, well, ordinary.  Hunting around, I hit pay-dirt (or peach gold if you're inclined that way).  Peach Vanilla Jam.  As soon as I saw it, I KNEW I had to try it!  It looked AMAZING!  Gorgeous golden orange jam, with tiny flecks of black in it from the Vanilla seeds. 

It did take me a while to make this.  I'm really not very adept at peeling fresh peaches, even with the boiling water/ice water method.  But luckily, this is a small batch of Jam, so it didn't take me hours - well, not THAT many anyway :p  I repeat once again, this is a small batch, but the recipe CAN be doubled or even tripled to preserve for use later.  I stuck with the small batch, because well, how was I to know how it would turn out?

It turned out amazingly well.  This is now my go-to Jam when I do Cream Teas.  The jam blends perfectly with the clotted cream, and the cream scones recipe, also on my website.  It looks pretty and tastes just amazing!  The hint of Vanilla really adds to the flavour of  the fresh peaches.  My only complaint?  It didn't set quite as well as I'd hoped.  The recipe relies on the seeds of a whole Lemon, and a couple tablespoons of Lemon Juice instead of the traditional pectin, but even so, you may find you have better luck than I did.  So, onwards.

Ingredients.

  • 2lbs ripe fresh peaches (about 8 small peaches) peeled and cut into small chunks.
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 2tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice and all the seeds of a whole lemon
  • 1tbsp vanilla bean paste, or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
  • Pinch of Salt
  • Pat of butter
  • Small piece of cheesecloth and string.
Method.

Have the container or Jars you'll be refrigerating your jam in clean and handy.

Prepare peaches and juice a fresh lemon, reserving all the lemon seeds.  Place all the lemon seeds into the square of cheesecloth, and form into a pouch, securing with string.

Place prepared peaches, sugar, vanilla bean paste, 2 Tbsp. of the fresh lemon juice, a pinch of salt, a pat of butter and the pouch of lemon seeds into a heavy saucepan or Dutch oven. Stir and bring to a boil over high heat. If you like, you can mash your peaches with a potato masher at this point, to break up any large pieces. Lower heat slightly and continue to cook, stirring regularly, until it reaches the gel point (224° F. on a candy thermometer). This will take around 10 minutes or so. Alternately, if you don't have a thermometer, you can place a saucer into the freezer when you start preparing your jam. When you want to test if it has reached the gel point, remove from the freezer and place a small puddle of jam onto the cold saucer. With your spoon, push against the middle of the puddle of jam. If it "wrinkles" and leaves a path when you run your spoon through it, it's ready. If it doesn't (it's still liquid, runs back together after running your spoon through it), cook a little longer and test again until it does. REMOVE LEMON SEED POUCH AND DISCARD before putting jam in jars.

Spoon hot jam into prepared jar(s) or container(s). Allow to cool slightly, cover with lids then refrigerate immediately. Jam can also be frozen in freezer jam containers. *Do not store at room temperature unless you have used properly sterilized jars and sealed via a hot water bath.
If you want to preserve your jam for longer storage at room temperature, a hot-water bath sealing method is required to remove any air in the jars and to ensure proper jar sealing.

 You MUST try this people!  Right, I'm off to make scones

Till next time, keep on cookin'!