Peaches are in season right now so it is time to take full advantage. I found a nice basket at the St Lawrence market of PF 17 variety. The gent at the stand says that they always pick them a few days early, so that they do not bruise during shipping. All were quite firm but ripened nicely after 2 days on the counter. They were not the most flavourful, but where very sweet and juicy. Id love to be able to pick them ripe right off the tree, but who has time for that these days? I was asking about heirloom varieties but they don’t produce many that are commercially available because they don’t ship well or store well. There are a few available but it typically takes 20-30 years to get a cultivar to market. They are also very susceptible to pests so keep in mind that peaches are sprayed heavily.
I went to the herbalist and found bergamont leaves and elder flowers for the batches of jam. This round was an experiment in technique and flavour. I made two batches, one of each flavour and then cooked one of each with pectin and one without. I blanched and peeled the peaches, then cut them into large segments for a chunky end result.
The bergamont was very bitter, so I steeped the leaves in simple syrup and added that to my peaches as they cooked out. I did the same with the elder flower. Once they were softened on a very low simmer, I drained off the liquid. Some I blitzed about 10% of the fruit back in and some I did not. When adding the pectin, I mixed it in with the sugar so that it did not clump, and blitzed it in with the pureed fruit. Once the pectin is added, you have the bring it to a hard boil until it reached the gelling point, where the bubbles get large and the jam coats the back of a spoon. The batches without pectin had 50% sugar by weight, whereas the pectin batches had about 25% sugar, so they were more tart but still set up. At the end of the day I ended up with about 16 small jars of 4 very different jams. I also added lemon juice at the end to give a bit of brightness and acidity and a little salt to bring out the flavour.
The jars without pectin were quite loose with large chunks of fruit. The flesh was still a little firm so it made for a great spreadable jam. The pectin jars had more of a jelly texture, which held their shape when scooped. Next time around I will have a better idea of how to find the middle ground for the perfect jam, one which is firm enough to hold it’s shape but still be spreadable
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