Summer in Australia is a stone fruit lover's dream. Markets abound with peaches, plums, apricots and mangoes, sold in trays of luscious golden, sun-kissed goodness. We are big fruit eaters in this house and there is always plenty to eat and blend or bake. When we found ourselves drowning in a huge tray of over 45 beautiful peaches, I decided it was time to jam, quite literally.
This was the first jam I ever made and also the first 'Weekend Project' for the site. It was a great experience and the jam which was a result of several modified recipes, turned out quite nice; almost like a chutney with a spicy undertone. It wasn't very difficult reaching the dreaded 'gel point' either. I haven't made any jam since but I have been toying with the idea of doing a blood orange and hazelnut liquer jam. Meanwhile I hope you enjoy this recipe.
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PEACH AND LEMON JAM
Preparation Time: 60 mins | Standing Time: 60 mins | Cooking Time: 30 mins
Ingredients
5 lbs firm, ricpe peaches
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tsp cinnamon
1/ tsp nutmeg
Method
Peel and pit the peaches. Chop into small pices. Combine with sugar, lemon juice and spices in a deep saucepan. Cover and stand for an hour. On low heat, cook the peach mixture, stirring constantly for approximately 25-30 minutes till it reaches gel point. Remove from heat. Blend to desired consistency using a stick blender. Return to heat and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Pour into sterilized jars leaving 1/2 inch head space from the top. Cover with lids and treat in a hot water bath.
Notes
- You can adjust the amount of sugar depending on your taste, but the less the sugar is used, the more it enhances the flavour of the peach.
- For this particular recipe, it takes approximately 30 minutes to reach the gel point. [cooking on low heat]
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This sounds so yummy thanks for sharing, but how many peaches roughly would be 5 lbs?
I dont have a scale
Thanks for such a FRESH recipe! Will try it the next weekend.
MMMMMMMMMM,....this is one lovely combined jam!! I so love the yummie flavours!!
Excellent!
.-= Sophie´s last blog ..Chicken with a cranberry, port & orange sauce, served with sugared braised Belgian endives =-.
Hi, Sneh.
I love your blog! Very lovely!
I'm Armenian and live in California.
Married to an Aussie, I discovered how exotic
the cooking is there.
Have a happy Christmas!
Cheers,
Colette
Thanks for your kind words Colette. Hope you had a lovely Christmas! Wish you and your family a very happy new Year!