Stone Fruit Jam
- Total Time
- About 1 hour 15 minutes, plus macerating
- Rating
- Comments
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Ingredients
- 4½pounds/2 kilograms peaches, nectarines, plums or apricots, pitted, sliced or cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2¾cups/550 grams granulated sugar
- 3tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice (from about 2 lemons or limes)
- Add-ins (optional, see note)
Preparation
- Step 1
Toss fruit and sugar together in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Let sit for at least 15 minutes or up to overnight, tossing periodically to coat and to dissolve the sugar. (This will help coax the juices out of the fruit.)
- Step 2
Place a small plate in the refrigerator to chill. (You’ll use this later.)
- Step 3
Bring the fruit to a strong simmer over medium heat until the skins burst and the juices start to boil, 10 to 15 minutes. If using a vanilla bean as an add-in, put it in the pot now.
- Step 4
Increase the heat to medium–high. Cook the jam, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or spatula at first and more frequently as juices thicken until most of the liquid has evaporated and the fruit has begun to break down, about 25 to 35 minutes. How much it breaks down will depend on the type of fruit and how ripe it is. (For example, peaches are likely to retain their shape, while plums and apricots will break down almost entirely.)
- Step 5
As the jam cooks, the liquid reduces, the sugars thicken and the natural pectins activate. You’ll notice the liquid go from a rapid, rolling boil with smaller bubbles to a slow, thick, tarlike boil with larger bubbles. This is the stage at which it’s most important to stir constantly along the bottom of the pot to prevent scorching and sticking. (Sugar is heavier than water and will concentrate there, increasing the chance that the fruit will burn.) It’s also the stage at which splattering may occur, so take care in stirring.
- Step 6
When the jam reaches a slow, thick boil, add lemon juice and any of the add-ins (see note). Continue to cook, stirring constantly until the jam has returned to its previously thickened state, about another 5 minutes. To test the consistency, spoon a bit of jam onto the chilled plate, return it to the refrigerator and chill for 2 minutes. Drag your finger through it: It should hold its shape on either side without appearing watery or runny. If it’s not there yet, cook it a few minutes more.
- Step 7
Remove from heat, and pick out vanilla bean, if you added it earlier. Divide between jars, leaving ¼ inch of space at the top of the jar, and seal immediately. Can the jams (see our How to Make Jam guide for more instruction), or store in the refrigerator, using them up within a couple of weeks.
- To elevate your jam, consider the following add-ins: For peaches or nectarines, add in 1 vanilla bean, split with seeds scraped; ½ teaspoon ground cardamom; or 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger. For plums, add 1 teaspoon rose water or 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. For apricot, add ¾ teaspoon almond extract or 1 vanilla bean, split with seeds scraped.
Private Notes
Comments
Other recipes call for removing the skin from peaches. Can you really leave it on?
After the jam is put in the jar and seal, do I have to do anything else ? And where should the jars be stored and how long can they be stored for ?
I've always understood that a 55% ratio of sugar to fruit is the absolute minimum needed to preserve the fruit. This recipe calls for around 27% -- which is great news, but is that really enough? The berry jam recipe calls for even less, I think it's under 20%. I would love to use less sugar but my expert jam-making friends claim that I already don't use enough.
Loved this recipe with a bit less sugar for the apricot jam earlier in summer but the beautiful peaches I used with same 500 gms sugar is too sweet, even with lime instead of lemon juice. Haven’t given up on trying with plums but will be hoping my fruit is on the tart side to avoid the peach jam problem.
I made a double batch with peaches from a friend's peach trees. They released a lot of liquid while sitting with the sugar (step 1). It took more than twice as long to thicken than the recipe says in step 4. I ended up adding fruit pectin and cooking an additional 20 minutes. Did anyone else have this issue? That said, the resulting jam is delicious.
The acidity in the lemon juice helps to activate the pectin in the fruit, and the skin has a higher concentration of pectin compared to the meat if the fruit. In addition to helping the jam set up better, the skin adds valuable nutrients and color to this recipe.