Bourbon - Vanilla Bean Peach Jam
I think bourbon is the perfect spirit to pair with peaches and this Bourbon Peach Jam with Vanilla Bean is a decadent start to the day! Serve it on toast or ice cream or even make a cocktail with it, it’s absolutely delicious!
One thing that would typically keep me from making this Bourbon Peach Jam with Vanilla Bean might be the tedium of peeling 20 peaches. But wait!! Peaches (and tomatoes) are actually so easy to peel. Simply cut a crosshatch in the bottom and blanch them for 1 minute in boiling water.
Remove them from the water and dunk them in a big bowl of ice water to cool and voila…the peel will have started to curl back where it was cut and it’s as easy as just slipping that sucker off!
When I was finished, I first tried my Bourbon Peach Jam with Vanilla Bean on an English Muffin and then I had English Muffins for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then I tasted some on vanilla ice cream. I believe swoon would be the word.
This recipe calls for simple ingredients; make sure you have these on hand before you start.
Although my recipe calls for 3.5 pounds of peaches, I always double it. I think that’s been a mistake, trying to cook down that much jam. This year when I doubled it, I used two pots; seriously made a difference. If you decide to make a bigger batch I suggest you do the same; it did make a big difference in cooking time.
They do not have to cook as long for the jam to start to firm up enough to be canned. The second thing I decided was to use powdered pectin instead of liquid; no sense in adding more liquid to a recipe that some were having trouble firming up!
The substitution means that for every packet of liquid pectin, the recipe will now use 2 Tablespoons of the powdered variety. When you use powdered, you whisk it into the sugar before you combine it with the fruit; as opposed to adding the liquid ingredient at the end of cooking.
All I can say is that it went faster this year and the texture was great…cooking for so long last year almost made more of a preserve without any chunks of fruit and I do like it chunky! I hope these tips help you too…this is so fantastic that everyone should be making Bourbon Peach Jam!
Ingredients:
3 1/2 pounds ripe peaches (See Notes for conversion information if measuring by cups)
3 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 Tablespoons dry pectin
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 vanilla bean, 1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste or 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 teaspoon butter
3/4 cup bourbon, divided
Instructions:
Prepare the jars and lids: place six clean half-pint jars on a tray and put into a 225 degree oven; keep war, until ready to fill.
Put the bands and lids into a medium saucepan and cover with water. Heat over medium heat until the water is simmering, then remove the pan from heat and keep the bands and lids in the hot water until ready to use.
To Prepare the Peaches:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Fill another large bowl with ice water. Cut an X into the bottom of each peach and drop them into the boiling water and blanch for 30 seconds. Remove the peaches from the hot water and immediately plunge them into the ice water.
Once cool, pull off skin and chop the peaches. Transfer HALF of them to a blender and pulse just until they are coarsely pureed. You should have about 4 cups of puree.
Put a large pot for canning on the stove filled with water and heat on high.
Put both the pureed and chopped peaches in a large, heavy-bottomed pot.
Combine the two sugars and dry pectin and mix well. Combine with the lemon juice, lime juice, 1/2 cup of the bourbon, vanilla and butter.
Bring to a full rolling boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Add the remaining bourbon and let boil for a few seconds.
Turn off heat and let mixture settle; skim any foam from the surface with a metal spoon. Test the jam on a cold plate to make sure it sets up; if not continue to cook and test until it does.
Discard the vanilla bean if used.
Remove the jars from the oven and ladle the hot jam into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars, cover with lids, and screw bands on until just barely tight.
Place the jars on a rack in the canning pot with boiling water and cover the pot. When the water in the pot returns to a boil, boil for 10 minutes for half pint jars and 15 minutes for full pints.
Turn off heat, remove jars from pot and allow them to rest undisturbed on countertop for six hours or overnight.
Preserved jam will keep for up to one year in a cool, dark place.
If you choose to not preserve the jam, it will keep refrigerated for about 6 months in the fridge.
Notes
If you don't have a scale, use this information to help determine how many peaches you will need for this recipe:
https://www.peach-depot.com/conversion-charts.html
I had more than six jars of jam; so I was scrambling to prepare more jars and lids. I would suggest you over estimate and have a couple of extra jars ready.
Also, don't be intimidated by the notion of canning. I am a 'small batch' canner. Meaning I don't have a lot of specialty equipment. I use a large stockpot for the canning process and I've simply bought a trivet meant for cooling cakes to put into the bottom of it to keep the jars stable in boiling water. Before I found them? I put a kitchen towel in the water and it worked too.
Get a jar gripper though and a funnel for the jars; they both do simplify the task of both filling the jars and getting them into and out of the hot water. Most grocery stores have a canning section with any supplies you would need including jars, lids and the SureJell pectin.. Try it...you'll like it!
Let us know what you think of this recipe in the comments below!!