White Peach Jam with Honey, Vanilla Bean and Brandy
With each bite you taste peach, vanilla and honey. Simple, comforting flavours.
I tried Pomona’s for the third time last week and I was pretty successful. I used my unorthodox method again of mixing some of the juice from the canning pot with the pectin and then added the whole lot back into the pot. I’m pleased with the delicate colour and flavour of this jam. The honey and vanilla accent the sweet peach.
I am completely sick of peeling peaches. I was considering ordering another box from The Petters but right now I get both irritated and exhausted just thinking about it. I did just go to their site to get the link though and I almost ordered another half box of white peaches. It is like I have some kind of sickness. I better go lay down after this post and think things through about what my peach canning addiction is doing to my husband. I have a pretty strong feeling he would be pretty pissed off if he has to hear me ask, “Can you come up and help me peel these f*#king peaches?” The man works hard and deserves a little time to play Xbox. Peach peeling is my kitchen nemesis now though, that and coleslaw (I can’t make that to save my life).
This recipe would work just fine with regular peaches if you can’t find a white variety.
- 6 cups chopped peaches
- 2 cups sugar
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cups brandy
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ vanilla bean
- 4 tsp calcium water
- 3 tsp Pomona Pectin
- Wash and sterilize jars, lids, and tools. Keep the jars warm so they are ready for the hot jam. Boil the lids only 5-10 minutes just before you are ready to use them so that the seal part is soft.
- Peel and chop the peaches.
- Add the sugar, honey, lemon juice and brandy.
- At this point I decided I wanted a finer jam so I pureed it a bit with my immersion blender – a totally optional step.
- Cut a vanilla bean in half and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and half pod into the pot with the peaches. Stir well.
- Add the calcium water.
- Heat and stir for a couple of minutes. Take some of the sugary juice out of the pot and mix it with the pectin. Stir until it is combined and then add it to the pot with the rest of the ingredients.
- Stir well and bring the mixture to a boil and let it boil for 15-20 minutes. It should be thick and glossy. You can also take a spoonful out and test to see if it is set.
- If the jam is set then ladle the jam into the hot, sterilized jars.
- Wipe the rims of the jars if you splattered a bit and place the heated lids on the jars. Put the rings on the jars and tighten – but do not too tight.
- Process in a canning pot with a rack in boiling water for 10 minutes.
- Remove from boiling water after 10 minutes and place them on a cooling rack. Leave them alone for 24 hours. After that, press the centre of the lids to check to make sure it sealed. If the jars are sealed, store them in a cool, dry place. If they did not seal then pop them in the fridge and enjoy them sooner rather than later.
- This makes approximately five 250 ml (half pint) jars of jam.
You might also like:
 Peach Blueberry and Grand Marnier Jam (using Pomona’s… |  Chunky Peach Jam BBQ Sauce |  Peach Jam with Honey & Earl Grey Tea |  Black Raspberry and Chambord Jam |
Entry filed under: Preserves and Jams, Uncategorized. Tags: booze, Canning fatigue, Gluten-free, Niagara Peaches, Peach Maniac, peeling peaches, The Petters, vanilla bean.
September 9, 2011
1. Phoebe | September 13, 2011 at 2:33 pm
How is the texture with your method of pomona’s? I love the low sugar and honey uses, but the texture of gelatin is a big turn off.
Great recipe, by the way1
2. Anonymous | September 14, 2011 at 8:29 pm
The texture is a little more like gelatin than with regular pectin. I have to admit that I prefer commercial pectin over Pomona’s and next summer I will probably just stick to it instead of Pomona’s.
3. Vigi Molfino | September 14, 2011 at 8:23 pm
what is calcium water?
4. Anonymous | September 14, 2011 at 8:33 pm
Calcium water is part of Pomona’s Universal Pectin. In the box of Pomona’s pectin are two little packets. One is the pectin and it is a brown powder and the other is the calcium. You follow the directions in the box to get the ratio of calcium powder to water, mix it up and keep it in a jar with a lid in your fridge. I got three batches of jam out of one box of Pomona’s pectin.
5. Jam Fever! « The Lazy Homesteader | September 16, 2011 at 11:07 pm
[...] vanilla beans, green cardamom pods and various liquors for our jam. Some combos we tried: Peach with Honey, Vanilla Bean and Brandy (wow – the smell!), Plum Lavender (AMAZING!!), Peach-Plum Ginger, Plum Noir (ooh lala!), and [...]
6. Joyce | June 14, 2012 at 2:27 pm
Have you tried blanching the peaches to peel them? You just make little x incision at the base of the peach, blanch in boiling water for 40ish seconds, dump in ice bath. The skin comes right off! I’ve never done this with peach jam before but it works great for pies.
7. buffyandgeorge | June 14, 2012 at 2:53 pm
Hi – thanks for your comment. We did peel them by blanching but some of the little buggers were stubborn and in various stages of ripeness. I should have clarified in the post that I was blanching the peaches to peel them but I wrote that in a canning delerium. Some would come off halfway and then we would need to pick the rest off. So frustrating!! Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network