Author Notes
This is a small batch preserve featuring white peaches, honey, and lemons. It makes just a single pint of preserves and is the perfect way to capture a little taste of summer without breaking a sweat or destroying your kitchen. —Marisa McClellan
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Ingredients
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2 pounds
white peaches
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8 ounces
honey
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1
lemon
Directions
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Prepare a small boiling water bath canner and 2 half pint jars. Place lids in a small saucepan and bring to a bare simmer.
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Pit, peel and chop peaches. Combine with honey in a small bowl and let sit until the honey dissolves into the fruit.
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Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from the lemon in strips. Stack zest pieces on a cutting board and julienne so that you end up with little slivers of lemon zest that resemble confetti. Add zest to peaches. Cut lemon in half and juice it into small bowl. Measure out three tablespoons and add to the fruit.
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Scrape the peaches, honey, and lemon zest and juice into a 12-inch stainless steel skillet and place over high heat. Cook, stirring regularly, until the peaches soften, the liquid reduces and the whole mixture becomes quite thick and spreadable, about 10 to 12 minutes
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If you like, during cooking, you can use a potato masher to help break down the peach pieces into more manageable sized bits.
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The jam is done when you can pull a spoon or spatula through it and jam doesn’t immediately rush in to fill the space you’ve cleared. It will also become much splashier at the end of cooking.
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Remove pan from heat. Funnel jam into prepared jars. Wipe rims, apply lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for ten minutes.
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When time is up, remove jars from canner and let them cool on a folded kitchen towel. When jars are cool enough to handle, remove rings and test seals by grasping the edges of the ring and lifting the jar an inch or so off the countertop. If the lid holds fast, your seal is good. Sealed jars can be stored in a cool, dark place for up to one year.
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Alternately, if you prefer to skip the boiling water bath process, the jam can simply be funneled into a jar after cooking and refrigerated once cool. It will keep for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator.
I'm a food writer and canning teacher. I write the blog Food in Jars. My first cookbook, also called Food in Jars, is now available. My second cookbook will be out in spring 2014.
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