Last week, my friend Annika (The Healthy Nut) and I went to Brentwood, CA to go peach picking. We went to two farms, and got lots and lots of white and yellow peaches. The peaches were so sweet and delicious, but I could only eat so many so I needed to find something to with them. I used some of my peaches for ice cream, but I decided I would use most of them for a jam. These peaches were so sweet I wanted to make this jam a little more tart so I decided to add some raspberries. One of my problems was that I could not find a peach raspberry jam recipe that was exactly how I wanted it, but I have made a lot of jam in my day so I thought I could just make up my own recipe. The jam turned out so great I figured I should share my recipe.
Peach picking was a 10/10 good time if you couldn't tell from these goofy photos ;)
Ingredients (this makes about 15 jars so you might want to half)
20 peaches (I uses a mix of yellow and white and pealed half)
1 10 oz bag frozen raspberries
1/4 cup water (and more for sealing jars)
4 cups white sugar
4 tsp low sugar pectin
1 teaspoon vegan butter
Instructions
Making the Jam
1. Wash, cut, peal, and cube the peaches. I peal them be pulling the skin off after cutting them into eighths
2. In a small sauce pan reduce the frozen raspberries with the water into a liquid, stir occasionally
3. In a large pot put the peaches on medium heat and add pectin, stir frequently
4. Meanwhile strain the raspberries saving the juice and seeds separately.
5. Once the peaches are bubbling add the raspberry juice. You can also add a few spoonful of seeds if you want, I personally like this because I think it helps the texture.
6. Gradually pour in sugar as you stir and stir in butter (this prevents foaming)
7. Cover and cook at low heat for about 10 minutes, stir it every few minutes as it thickens
8. When the jam is thick enough that it holds its shape when you drag a spoons through it, remove the pot from heat
Sealing the Jars
9. Ladle the jam into sanitized jars (I use half pint jars) it is also very helpful to use a canning funnel put lids on once the jars are cool enough
10. Fill a large deep pot half way full and bring to boil
11. When water is boiling put tightly closed jars in it, I use jar tongs to do this. *IMPORTANT* the water should be covering the tops of the jars. If you can not fit all your jars in the pot you can do this in multiple batches.
12. Let the jars sit in the boiling water for 15 minute, then take them out of the pot so they can cool (I use the tongs for this too)
13. As the jars cool you should hear the lids of them "pop" if that happens you will know they are properly sealed. Then you are done! Enjoy your jam!
INFO about steps 9-12 these steps are optional but important if you want your jam to last for more than a few weeks. I tried my best to explain the steps of the canning process but this article explains it very well.