Peach Butter

I don’t live in peach country which is a shame because peaches are delicious. Stone fruit is very popular in our house. Husband can eat a large bowl of Italian plums faster than a bag of chips. One of the hardware stores in town gets big boxes of peaches in at the end of summer every year. I think the boxes hold at least 20lbs of peaches, way too much for our little family. My mom brought up the idea of splitting a box of peaches and I was thrilled. We’ve been sharing produce from the farm all year so why not a box of peaches.

So earlier this week I had 10 pounds of peaches sitting on my kitchen counter. While it may seem like a lot of peaches, it’s really not. I starting looking for clever ways to use my peaches since I knew that we couldn’t eat so many before they went bad. I set a couple aside for munching, sliced a few for freezing and decided to turn the rest into peach butter.

I looked for peach jam recipes but I was quickly stopped by the amount of sugar I found in every recipe. I realized that I am not ready for full blown jam making. Thankfully, an email from smittenkitchen.com arrived in my inbox with a recipe for peach butter. This recipe has very little sugar but it’s full of spreadable goodness.  While I did follow the recipe I did find that it needed more cooking time once I added the sugar and lemon juice. I ended up simmering the butter for an hour.  Also, I don’t own a food mill so I did boil my peaches – so so so easy! I didn’t take the canning route, instead I froze several jars for use later. If you plan on canning your peaches please visit smittenkitchen.com for details on how to can this deliciousness!

4 pounds peaches
1 cup water
2 cups granulated sugar
Juice of one lemon

Without a food mill: Cut a small “x” in the bottom of each peach. Dip each into a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, and then into a bowl of cold water for a minute. The peels should slide right off. [If you have a food mill, skip the peeling step and I'll tell you where to use it in a moment.]

Halve your peaches and remove the pits, then cut each half into quarters (i.e. 8 chunks from each peach). Place peach chunks and water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Simmer until peaches are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure they cook evenly. If you have a food mill, run them through it to puree them and remove the skins. If you don’t have a food mill — i.e. you already peeled your peaches — you can puree in a food processor, blender or with an immersion blender. I like my peach butter very smooth, but feel free to leave any amount of texture you prefer.

Return the peaches to the large pot, add the sugar and lemon juice and bring the mixture to a good strong simmer/gentle boil, cooking them at this level for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally in the beginning and more often near the end, as it thickens up and the fruit masses risk scorching on the bottom of the pot.

There are several methods to test for doneness: You can drizzle a ribbon of sauce across the surface; when that ribbon holds its shape before dissolve into the pot, it is done. Some people use cold or frozen plates; dollop a spoonful in the middle of one and if no water forms a ring around it in a couple minutes, it is done. Others use a spoon; if the butter remains rounded on a spoon for two minutes, it is done. You can also check the pot itself; the butter is usually done when a wooden spoon leaves a clear train when scraped across the bottom.

Let peach butter cool. If you’re not canning it, keep it in an airtight container in the fridge. It should be good for at least two weeks.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/09/peach-butter/