Peach Vanilla Bean Jam

I’ve got a bit of a confession…when strawberries were still in season I tried making strawberry jam.  So why didn’t you see a Strawberry Jam post, you might be wondering right now.  Notice the word “tried” in that first sentence?  That would be why.

I’m not exactly sure what happened to be honest.  I had the pectin, I had the fresh strawberries from Westmoreland Berry Farm and I had the canning jars ready to go!  But let’s just say it turned into a big berry mess, leave it at that and turn our attention to my more successful jam attempt.

The idea for this jam started with a conversation with Stefano Frigerio of the Copper Pot at Penn Quarter Farmers Market one week.  Stefano and his recipe for strawberry vanilla jam had recently been featured in the Washington Post and I was curious because his method didn’t involve pectin.  It was just fresh strawberries, a split vanilla bean and sugar…nothing more.  I have grown to love Stefano’s jams because he also sells at my neighborhood favorite 14th & U Farmers Market, so I knew the results of his jams were amazing.  As I was picking up his confit rabbit ravioli, I told him of my plans to attempt to make bluberry jam.  He shook his head and told me blueberry jam required way too many blueberries to make a decent jar.  And as he pointed out, blueberries ain’t cheap.  Instead, he suggested I make peach jam and pointed out that by not peeling the peach, I could use the natural pectin in its skin to thicken the jam.  He did caution that I should take the skins out before eating the jam, something that could easily be done with a sieve.

So about 2 Saturdays ago, I headed out to the 14th & U Farmers Market with Brian (who always blames me when he overindulges at the farmers markets…of which I vehemently deny) and picked up some peaches at Kuhn Orchards.  I came back home and decided to follow Stefano’s method to make the jam.  Because of my previously craptastic attempt at making jam, I decided to only make a small batch of the peach jam.  I didn’t want to waste too many of the beautifully sweet peaches on a project that might backfire.  I placed a pound of chopped peaches, 1 cup of sugar (which actually turned out to be a hair too much…you need a LOT less sugar when you’re using farm fresh fruit), the beans of a split vanilla pod and the vanilla bean shells in a pot and let it stand for about 30 minutes.

After sitting for that long, the peaches started to release some of its juices, meaning I didn’t have to add any other liquids to the jam.  I then set the pot on a low heat and allowed the peaches to cook for about 1 1/2 hours (stirring frequently) or until the mixture cooked down to a jam like consistency.  While the jam was still hot, I removed the vanilla bean shells and forced the jam through a sieve to remove the skins.  I then ladled the jam into a hot, sterilized canning jar.  I boiled a big pot of water and set the jam jar down in it for about 5 to 10 minutes for canning purposes and then removed the jar using tongs.  I allowed the jam to cool before I slathered it on some toast with Keswick Creamery‘s oh so tasty Quark (which is a slightly tangier and MUCH tastier version of cream cheese).

This was a MUCH more successful jam attempt and except for being slightly sweeter than I prefer, the jam tasted amazing.  The small chunks of fresh peaches in the jam gave it an even better taste overall.  Using fresh, in season fruit and minimal sugar led to a wonderful end result and I plan on making even more peach jam this weekend!

Tagged as: Food, fruit jam recipes, Jam, Jam recipe, jam recipes, peach, peach jam recipes, peach recipes, peaches