(Updated – July 14, 2020)
Today we want to share a recipe for Maple-Vanilla Peach Jam from Preserving with Pomona’s Pectin.
Yield: 4 to 5 half-pint (8-ounce) jars.
This recipe is reprinted from Preserving with Pomona’s Pectin by Allison Carroll Duffy (Fair Winds Press, June 2013).
“If I were to eat any jam by the spoonful (which I admit to doing on occasion), this would be the one. I also love a big dollop of it on vanilla ice cream. It’s great in baked goods, too – as a filling for cookie bars or even turnovers. The deep intensity of maple and vanilla, combined with the lusciousness of fresh peaches, is just heavenly," said Allison Carroll Duffy, the author.
Before You Begin: Prepare calcium water. To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well. Extra calcium water may be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
Wondering what calcium water is? Calcium water is a solution of the monocalcium phosphate powder (food-grade rock mineral source) that comes in its own packet with every purchase of Pomona’s Pectin. The Pomona’s Pectin directions tell you how to make calcium water with the calcium powder. Pomona’s Pectin recipes call for calcium water because the pectin is activated by calcium, not by sugar. You can read more about calcium water here.
Wash your jars, lids, and bands. Place jars in canner, fill canner 2/3 full with water, bring canner to a rolling boil, and boil jars for 10 minutes to sterilize them. (Add 1 extra minute of sterilizing time for every 1000 feet above sea level.) Reduce heat and allow jars to remain in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids in water in a small sauce pan, heat to a low simmer, and hold until ready to use.
Peel and remove pits from peaches, and then mash the peaches in a large bowl.
Tip: Perfect Peaches!
This recipe requires mashed peaches, so be sure that your peaches are fully ripe and soft enough to mash. If they’re not, however, simply place peeled, pitted, chopped peaches in a saucepan with ½ cup water. Simmer for 5 minutes to soften them, and then mash. (There is no need to drain the water after cooking—simply mash the peach mixture as is.)
If you are dealing with a small quantity of fruit, slice off peach (or nectarine) skins with a paring knife (pitting and quartering the fruit first). However, if you’re doubling the recipe and are working with a lot of fruit, you may want to blanch them to remove the skins instead. Simply drop peaches or nectarines one at a time into boiling water for about 30 to 60 seconds, then remove and immediately dunk in cold water. You should then be able to slip the skins right off.
This recipe sounds great!
I’m thinking a dollop of those preserves would taste great on a scoop of vanilla ice cream… RIGHT NOW!!!
that sounds so good! I have some peaches ripening as we speak so I can see making this over the weekend
Now there’s a taste of summer to enjoy in the winter!
It is always good to find someone that gives good advice about canning anything. My mother was a canning person. I truly believe that we are living in times where people are going to learn that canning, and preserving is no longer a thing of the past. Food has gotten so expensive, people are changing the way they eat for health reasons. I have friends and family members deciding to eat less meat, and more seafood. I love seafood, but some of the recipes are so full of salt. That just doesn’t seem very healthy to me.
I love maple but find it hard to bake or cook with as it seems the flavor always cooks out. Does the maple come through very strongly in this jam? Regardless, it looks wonderful and I’ll save the recipe for the next time I have a load of peaches. Thanks!
I recently canned peaches in raspberry syrup. Yummy! Also made peach butter and added raspberry pulp. It was a hit.
Yum
What is calcium water?
Calcium water is a solution of some of the monocalcium phosphate powder that comes with Pomona’s Pectin and water. Directions on how to use and mix it are included in each box of Pomona’s Pectin.
what is calcium water and is it necessary? thanks 🙂
Calcium water is a solution of some of the monocalcium phosphate powder that comes with Pomona’s Pectin and water. Directions on how to use and mix it are included in each box of Pomona’s Pectin.
looking forward to trying this out.
Loveeeeee this
recipe sounds good
Would love to try this
Like the maple, vanilla taste, thamks
Now I need to get more peaches. Just canned 18 pints of spiced peaches, 7 of plain honey peaches, a batch of spiced peach jam and a batch of honey vanilla peach jam.
Can frozen peaches be used, after peach season? How much would be needed?