Listen, I know peaches aren’t in season but we’ve had a few days of sun which have given me an admittedly delusional sense of hope that spring might just be around the corner, and that soon I can be sipping an iced tea in a sundress in the park. The combination of this feeling of yearning for sunnier days and the discovery of a kilo of peaches at the back of my freezer have resulted in this iced tea inspired peach jam.
I found the peaches in question at my local grocer at the end of last summer, and I knew I had to have them. I’d never seen blood peaches before and at just £8 per tray I couldn’t resist. Of course I didn’t actually need an entire tray of peaches, which is why some ended up in the depths of my freezer. The blood peaches are absolutely beautiful; with dark red flesh and a slightly more sour taste than a yellow or white peach. Although the colours are absolutely stunning, blood peaches are not necessary for this recipe - it’ll work just as well with any peaches or nectarines. I’d recommend just using cheap ones, it’s not worth spending the big bucks on fruit for jam. Under-ripe fruit actually tends to work better for jam as it’s higher in pectin, meaning you won’t need to add any extra pectin to the recipe in order for it to set, even if your peaches are ripe pectin is always optional, i like my jam with a firmer set so I always opt to use it but if you’re not bothered by a slightly runnier jam just leave it out.
I had originally planned on making a peach verbena jam using lemon verbena tea, however I didn’t have any verbena and I’m trying to make sure I’m only buying things that I actually need. This can be tricky but I have so many ingredients that I need to use up but I often find that not being able to buy what you want when you want forces you to be more creative and this jam is something I will definitely be making again. Perhaps when peaches are actually in season I’ll make a verbena version as well and if I buy an actual verbena plant for my garden it doesn’t count as buying unnecessary ingredients right!?
Peach Tea Jam
Ingredients - makes 2-3 jars
500g peaches
200g caster or granulated sugar
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
2-3 english breakfast tea bags, I used 2 but if you want a strong tea flavour use 3.
1/2tsp pectin mixed with 1tsp sugar (optional)
Pinch of citric acid if required
Method
Combine everything but the pectin and leave to macerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
Bring to the boil and then reduce to low to medium, it should be just bubbling.
Stir occasionally making sure not to burst the tea bags, if using pectin, add now.
Simmer for around 15-20 minutes until the temperature reaches 104°C, if you don’t have a thermometer, just put a spoonful on a plate to test the set.
Store in sterilised jars and use as you please, I put some on my porridge this morning and it might be the best porridge topping I’ve ever had!
Thanks for the peachy jam recipe Sophie! I'm gonna make this/ jar it for my friend's birthday - she loves peaches! 🍑🍑🍑