If you love peaches and want to enjoy the taste of peaches even later, here’s a recipe for peach jam according to an old recipe. It’s tasty, aromatic and its color will delight your eyes.
Peaches, along with apricots and nectarines, are some of the most beloved fruits of summer. They’re tasty, and they’re fleshy and full of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. It’s a shame to let summer pass without taking advantage of the taste and benefits of these fruits.
You can eat them fresh for your daily vitamin intake, but you can also include them in various dishes. You can start by serving them for breakfast as a smoothie with yoghurt, or in fruit salads. You can also include them in various dessert recipes such as tarts, puddings, cake tops or custards.
Once you’ve indulged in fresh peaches or peach desserts, you can preserve peaches for the cold season as well. You can make peach jam, compote, syrup, nectar or marmalade. We offer below one of the most delicious recipes, with a full list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions for preparation.
Ingredients
- 2 kg peaches, weighed without pits
- 1500 g sugar
- 200 ml water
- The juice of a large lemon
Preparation
The first step in making jam is to choose the peaches. Opt for ripe but firmer peaches if you want to make compote, while soft ones can be made into jam or nectar. As the peaches will go through a thermal process they will turn into a puree if they are soft.
Once you have chosen the peaches, wash them well in cold water to remove all the impurities. You can also add a little baking soda to the water to make sure the impurities are fully removed. Then rinse well and leave to drain.
While the peaches are draining, you can prepare the syrup for the jam.
Pour the water in a pot and add the sugar. Place the pot on the stove and boil up the syrup, stirring constantly with a spatula. After the sugar has melted, leave the syrup to simmer, reducing the heat to low. Cook for 12-15 minutes.
How to prepare the fruit for the peach jam
With a special vegetable knife, cut the peaches in half lengthwise. Remove the pit with the tip of the knife and clean the area around the pit, as there may be small pieces of it left. Cut each peach half into 6-8 mm strips, then cut each strip into smaller cubes. Squeeze out the juice of a lemon and immediately sprinkle the peach cubes to prevent oxidation.
Add the peach cubes to the simmering syrup and gently stir them in. Allow the peaches to simmer in the syrup until foam forms on the surface. Skim off the foam, turn off the stove and cover the pot with cheesecloth. Allow the jam to cool to room temperature first, then transfer the pot to the fridge. Leave it there for 12 hours or even 24 hours for the peach cubes to blend with the cold syrup.
The next day put the pot back on the stove and simmer the for up to 15 minutes.
Transfer the hot jam into clean, sterilized jars. Seal the jars tightly with the lids provided and cover them with a thick blanket. Leave them there until completely cool, and then label them with the date of preparation and transfer them to the pantry shelf.