cooking · Preserving

Honey Cinnamon Peach Jam

Someone (this girl!) came home with a huge box of peaches on Saturday from the farmers market, fresh from an orchard in Eastern Washington.Well over 20 pounds! By Monday morning they were ready to start using up and first up a batch of peach jam sounded wonderful. There are even more peach recipes coming…I was busy! I also made peach butter, peach cobbler, dried peaches…..

I made the jam with my favorite pectin – Pomonas Universal Pectin. Remember, each box makes multiple batches and no nasty Dextrose or preservatives like the other brands (all owned by the evil “K” company):

I have mentioned the Ball® Home Canning Discovery Kit before, the more I use it for small jars, the more I love it. Unlike regular canning racks the little jars don’t slide out. Removal is easy. I can fit 5 4-ounce or 8-ounce jelly jars in it, with no rattling.

Honey Cinnamon Peach Jam

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups mashed ripe peaches (see below)
  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1 cup raw honey, locally sourced
  • 3 tsp Pomonas Universal Pectin
  • 4 tsp calcium water (see below)
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon, preferably Saigon

Directions:

Jars & Lids –

Wash and rinse the jars; put them into a big stockpot; cover the jars with water and bring to a boil; turn off the heat. Let stand in hot water until you are ready to fill.

Wash the bands and lids, bring a saucepan of water to boil, add them let sit until you are ready to screw them on the jars. (Use new lids each time, bands can be reused.)

For the peaches –

Rinse the peaches off, removing the fuzzy layer. Peel, quarter and pit. Roughly chop and mash with a potato masher chunky-style, measure and then add to a large saucepan with the lemon juice and cinnamon.

To make the calcium water, mix ½ tsp calcium with ½ cup water in a small canning jar, shake till dissolved. Set aside, you will only need 3 tsp of it, the rest can be refrigerated for later use. Add 4 teaspoons of the calcium water to the peaches, stir well.

For the honey & pectin –

Measure the honey into a separate bowl and thoroughly mix the pectin into it, set aside.

To Cook –

Bring the peach mixture to a boil, stirring often. Pour the pectin-honey mixture into the boiling jam slowly and carefully, stirring as you add. Stir vigorously 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin.

Let it return to a boil and remove from the heat. Pectin gels completely when thoroughly cool, so don’t worry if your jam looks loose while still hot (although this particular jam is pretty stiff).

To preserve –

Empty the water out of your jars, fill to ¼” of the top (a sterilized canning funnel works great). Wipe the rims with a new damp paper towel, removing any spilled jam, especially on the rim.

Place a lid on top and tighten a band around each jar, place them into a pot of boiling water (such as a canning pot), using a canning rack to lower in. Make sure all jars are upright and that jars are fully submerged, with at least 2″ of water above.

Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Take out carefully using a jar lifter or tongs. Have a clean kitchen towel on the counter, place each jar on it and let cool for at least 6 hours, overnight is better. Listen for the “popping sound” and keep track of how many times you hear it. Check after cooling that the lid is firm when pressed on, if it pops up and down, it isn’t sealed. If that happens, refrigerate that jar and use within a couple of weeks.

Once cooled, store the jars in a pantry for up to 12 months. Once opened, store in the refrigerator and use up within 3 weeks.

Makes about 10 4-ounce jars.

Note: Do NOT give honey to infants under a year!!


25 thoughts on “Honey Cinnamon Peach Jam

  1. Oh Yeah! sounds awesome – Thanks Sarah!!!! I have the same jars for preserves too 🙂 I’ll be trying this as soon as I get the rest of the ingredients needed.I don’t know why I like canning – I just do.

  2. Thabks for sharing the info on the pectin! I had been avoiding making jam and such because of the stuff in the jelly pectin! Looks great! Send some to me 😉 *wink*

    1. Lol! Hey email me, I’d share a box – heck I got my favorite farmer hooked on using it too! She entered her new jams into the fair this week using Pomona!

    2. I need to ask her if she won 😉 I find it gives a clearer taste – brighter. Probably due to no dextrose and preservatives. And it isn’t as sweet as when you use “regular” pectin.
      It isn’t easy to find Pomonas but Amazon does carry it in 6 packs. Most grocery stores don’t carry it 🙁 Although Whole Foods has it, well hidden. Trying to remember where I saw it in the store in the past……

  3. I’ve never canned – absolutely no clue why. It’s definitely something I’m interested in & would love to do!
    This jam looks amazing – I’ve been on a cinnamon kick lately – I swear I’d put it on everything if it “worked” 😀

    1. Lori, get one of the Ball kits I mention above – it is easy and you don’t need any “special gear” unless you get the canning bug 😉 And it is cheap too! Walmart carries them as well……

  4. You all ready know how much I love Pomona’s! You are killing me with the everything peach you made, especially the jam! Aren’t those little ball jars the cutest!?! I love them!

    1. As if I needed more of those jars….another dozen came home yesterday with me. They make great gift size 🙂 Did I mention we had peach oatmeal the last two mornings? Lol…….

      1. Ha, I always give away the bigger jars because the little ones are too cute and I want to hoard them for myself! 🙂

        Oh peach oatmeal sounds divine!

      1. Yes, own it.

        Would you believe this girl has NEVER canned? I always make freezer jam because we like the freshness of it so much more. I have a lot to learn though and could really dig some peach and apple butter.

        Hey, by the way, how on earth did you get so many books to review? Is it because you’re a cookbook author yourself?

    2. Somer…and to anyone else – hit me up with an email via the contact page. I am on a PR list 😉 My good friend Cat who runs http://www.theverdantlife.com/ got me onto it a few years back. They loooovvveee us bloggers! I also get a bunch of stuff because of my business blog – but I am VERY happy to share my connections 🙂

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