Millions of peaches...

My friend Fabbio gave me about 6 kilos of white peaches Friday, apparently his mom is sick of making jam, so it's my turn. Knowing that I'll never eat that much jam, I decided to also do whole peaches in syrup and liquor. It's best to do these 2 jobs at the same time, as you'll see.

Peach Jam

Peaches, skinned and pitted
Sugar, 800 grams for every kilo of peaches

Peaches in syrup with liquor

Peaches, skinned
Sugar and water, equal weights
Stick of cinnamon
Rum, brandy or cognac

To skin the preaches, boil them for 2 minutes.

Remove and place in cold water.

As soon as they are cool enough to handle, pull the skins off.

Take the best skinned peaches and place in 1 bowl. These are for your peaches in syrup. Place ones with holes, pieces missing, a little hard, etc... In another bowl. These are for the jam.

The peaches will "sweat" juice while in the bowls. Keep this, you'll use it for the jam.

Mix sugar and water, equal weights, and heat until dissolved. Use enough in a small saucepan to completely cover 1 layer of peaches. Boil peaches in syrup for 3 or 4 minutes, then remove and place in a large-mouth canning jar. I used 1 liter jars. Break the stick of cinnamon in half and place in the center of the peaches.

Once the jar is filled, let it sit for 5 minutes. Then check the level of the syrup, the jar should be half filled. Adjust as necessary, either removing or adding syrup, then pour in the liquor.

The peaches will be ready to eat in about a month.


Now for the jam.

Pit the peaches and mash. You can blend them now if you want, leave them as is so you have chunks in your jam, or blend them later when they're cooking with a handheld mixer. Weigh the peaches and juice.

Place in a large stockpot. The best to use are Le Creuset round ovens. Most steel pots will scorch the jam, while the acid from the fruit will eat the patina off uncoated cast iron.

Add 800 grams sugar for every kilo of fruit and juice. Boil gently until a skin begins to form between the bubbles. Pour into the cans and cap.