Summer

Honey-Sweetened White Peach Jam with Lemon

June 26, 2013
5
1 Ratings
  • Makes 2 half pints
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
  • 2 pounds white peaches
  • 8 ounces honey
  • 1 lemon
Directions
  1. Prepare a small boiling water bath canner and 2 half pint jars. Place lids in a small saucepan and bring to a bare simmer.
  2. Pit, peel and chop peaches. Combine with honey in a small bowl and let sit until the honey dissolves into the fruit.
  3. 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.
  4. 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
  5. If you like, during cooking, you can use a potato masher to help break down the peach pieces into more manageable sized bits.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.

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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.

10 Reviews

Delia M. September 21, 2020
This is what you can call 'honey-licious'! I had used less honey because the one I had added was local DARK honey that was very intense in flavor...it is so thick that I can chew the honey in my mouth (yum..). So for 4 lbs of fruit, I used 12 ounces (instead of 16 oz) of honey and proceeded along with the recipe. Thank you! Love it!
happyxbelly November 9, 2013
It was amazing - this peach jam was so popular in my household - i made it and put it on my blog http://happyxbelly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/honey-sweetened-peach-jam.html

Thank you for posting this!
Sarahb September 7, 2013
Can you give a volume measurement for 8 ounces of honey?
Shawna G. August 27, 2015
I'd also like to know this. Is it 1 cup of honey? Or should I put it on a scale a weigh out 8 oz.? Or are they the same thing? Seems like 1 cup is a lot considering the recipe only makes 2 cups.
Karen September 1, 2013
This is so good! I'm having the last bit that didn't fit in jars on a bagel with cream cheese. It is quite lemony (my lemon was rather big, but only gave up 3 T. of juice), sort of like a marmalade. I almost didn't put all the zest in but I'm glad I did now.
Jody J. August 24, 2013
Could this be frozen rather than canned?
SteveP August 23, 2013
Do you have an estimate of the amount (volume or weight) of peaches after pitting and chopping? I find that the size of the peaches I can get at the local farmers market varies quite a bit. Last time I made peach jam I ended up with 2 cups more than the recipe said I should have (it had both weight and approximate volume). Thanks!
alaparc August 18, 2013
I tried it this weekend, but found the lemon flavor overwhelmed the peaches. Should I decrease the amount of zest? I also used the boiling water - ice water to remove the skins.
Marisa M. August 21, 2013
You can reduce the amount of zest used in the recipe, but you do need to keep the amount of lemon juice as written, as it ensures that the recipe is safe for boiling water bath canning.
Randi L. August 18, 2013
I made it this weekend, but used half peaches and half nectarines. I plan to make it again, with all peaches.