Handmade By Kristen: Spiced Peach Jam

Vintage clothes, furniture and recipes are some of my favorite things. I hate the idea that once something is past it's peak of popularity it fades away to be forgotten or just simply a distant memory. I thought of this again recently when cleaning some junk out of the attic at my mom's house. I came across a canning and food preserving recipe book from 1966. It was full of great recipes and instructions on food preservation. Some of the methods were a little outdated but still interesting to see how things have changes in the last 50 years.

I came across a no-pectin recipe for peach jam. I had been wanting to make some peach jam for the last few months and the local organic peaches were finally ripe! I noticed a note under the instructions for this jam stating to add some cinnamon to make it a spiced peach jam. I did not have just cinnamon sticks and read that cinnamon powder can make the jam turn kind of brown. However...I did have some left over mulling spices from last winter that worked even better!

Spiced Peach Jam
2 Quarts (About 10 large peaches)
1/2 C Mulling Spices (Whole)
6 C Sugar
1/2 C Water
Cheese cloth and twine for tying up mulling spices

Over lap two piece of cheese cloth and place mulling spices in the center. Tie cheese cloth into a pouch cinched tight. ( I left long tails of twine on mine to be able to tie to the handle of the pot but it is not necessary)

Blanch peaches to easily remove the skins.

Peel and remove pit.
Cut into smaller pieces.

Mash or puree peaches until there are few chunks of fruit left.

Pour into a large high sided pot. Add water and mulling spice bag. Cook on medium high heat for 10 minutes bring to a boil.

Slowly stir in sugar until dissolved. Bring to a rolling boil and cook for 15 minutes. Stir frequently to avoid sticking to pan and burning. Once done, you can discard the mulling spices.