Peach Butter
"Taste a little of the summer.
My Gramma put it all in jars."
--Greg Brown
The last box of fresh peaches for the season. Just trying to make it last a little longer ...
Peach Butter
8-10 Peaches, ripe
2/3 - 3/4 cup honey
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of that same lemon
Skin the peaches--the easy way. I know this seems like a lot of extra work, but believe me, it makes the process go so much quicker and easier that it is worth a few extra pots and bowls.
Drop the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds.
Then put them in a bowl of ice-water for 90 seconds.
The peels should be very easy to pull off the peaches now. You won't waste any of the good peach pulp.
Cut the peaches into approximately 1-inch chunks into the crock pot.
Add the zest of 1 lemon.
Add the juice of 1 lemon.
Add 2/3 - 3/4 cup honey.
We get honey from Mike-the-Honey-Man at our local Oshkosh Farmer's Market.
Do not add any extra water. The peaches will cook down and make their own sauce.
Cook for 4-5 hours in the crock pot.
Hour 1 - High,with lid closed.
Hour 2 - Low heat, lid closed.
Stir periodically.
Hour 3 - Crack the lid open with a wooden spoon, or other prop so that some of the liquid can escape.
Hour 4 - Keep going. Fruit will continue to soften, until it doesn't.
When it's done cooking, use a stick blender to make it smooth and creamy.
Careful -- It will still be hot!
Pour (or spoon) into prepared jelly jars.
You can go ahead and sterilize the jars if you want to officially can them. We put them in the freezer, so don't worry so much about sterilization procedures. If you do freeze the jars, leave a little space at the top of the jar, so the peach butter can expand as it freezes, without breaking the jar.
Don't forget to have some for yourself. I had an extra bowl-ful that wouldn't quite fill another jar.Pure sunlight in a bowl!
Some notes on the construction of this recipe: I looked at several peach butter recipes, and finally arrived at my own procedure above. I did not like the brown sugar in one recipe, and the stove-top method required constant attention. I didn't have to worry about it burning in the slow cooker, and the long cooking time adequately broke down the peach pulp so it was easy to blend smooth. The honey version gave the perfect sweetness, without an aftertaste, and kept it from going bad in the fridge long term. Yeah for honey's antimicrobial properties, even though I essential pasteurized it during the cooking process. The lemon juice added a nice acidity for balance. And I thought why not add the lemon zest in, too, for a little extra citrus kick? Maybe next time, we'll add a little ginger juice, too.
