Peach Jam: 8 Cooking Recipes

Peach jam is an incredible treat that will appeal to people of all ages. It is perfect for use in both warm and cold seasons, it has chic taste characteristics, a noble amber-golden color, lightness and wide variety of cooking.

Jam from these fruits is a real vitamin bomb, which is sure to come in handy in a cold, uncomfortable winter. Aesthetic translucent jam in bad weather will remind you of the bright sun. This delicacy is an ideal combination of taste and benefits, with an incomparable aroma and a huge number of properties that positively affect the health of the human body.

Composition and calorie content

The main components: yellow peaches, granulated sugar, water and citric acid. There is also a simplified composition, which requires only peaches and sugar. The finished mixture is rich in many vitamins (A, B1, B2, B9, C, E, PP) and minerals (phosphorus, zinc, potassium, calcium, iron, sodium).

Energy value depends on the amount of sugar added. The average energy value is 258 kcal per 100 g of the finished product:

• proteins - 2 kcal (0.5 g);
• carbohydrates - 257 kcal (66.8 g).

Fats are completely absent. They are only in the nuclei.

The composition of peach goodies includes (per 100 g):

• 66.8 g of monosaccharides and disaccharides;
• 31.4 g of water;
• 0.6 g of organic acids;
• 0.4 g of dietary fiber;
• 0.3 g of ash.

What is useful peach jam

1. Peaches have long been known as an excellent natural sedative, antidepressant and stimulant of good mood. Jam retains almost the same beneficial qualities that fresh fruits have.
2. The high peach content of potassium and phosphorus helps to improve memory and cope with cardiovascular diseases, circulatory problems. These same minerals improve the functioning of the brain, and also strengthen the walls of blood vessels.
3. Iron helps increase hemoglobin (peaches contain substances that improve blood formation processes) and normalize metabolism (by improving the functioning of the endocrine glands).
4. Regular consumption of peach jam helps to cope with fatigue, stress, nervous tension and insomnia.
5. This jam is suitable for those who suffer from low acidity of the stomach, constipation, cirrhosis in the early stages.
6. Peach jam helps rejuvenate the body, protect it from early aging.
7. The minerals contained in peaches have a beneficial effect on the skin (relieve rashes and improve complexion) and hair (strengthen them, make them healthier, shiny and silky).
8. Jam has a diuretic effect, which is positive for the treatment of urolithiasis. However, fresh fruits will do better for this.
9. Selenium, which is part of the fruit, can serve as a preventive measure for the development of cancer.

How to choose peaches for jam

1. To achieve a delicate texture and a pleasant aroma of jam, you need to choose only fully ripened (but not overripe and not too soft) or slightly unripe fruits with a peeling that leaves without much effort. Fruits must be hard.
2. To obtain a unique amber color, you should choose yellow fruits.
3. Even if the peach skin is not furry, it must be removed, because in the process of boiling it is separated from the fruit.
4. Peaches should be juicy, tasty, without visible damage. For cooking, both early and late varieties will do.

At the same time, not only ordinary shaggy peaches are suitable, but also nectarines. The requirements for them are similar.

General rules and recommendations

1. First of all, you need to choose the right dishes. A low enameled container with a thick bottom is best suited. To preserve as many beneficial micronutrients as possible, you do not need to cook peaches for too long. If the recipe involves a long cooking, you can cook the fruits for 5 minutes every day.
2. Peaches are boiled in whole, halves, cut into slices or small pieces. Whole fruits must be punctured in several places before cooking, otherwise they may burst. Hard peaches must first be poured with hot water and held there for a few seconds, then poured with cold water.
3. It is advisable to peel the fruit. This does not apply to nectarines, because their skin is soft and delicate. However, if you don’t remove the skin from the fruits, they will better keep their shape, and the color will be more pleasant - not just golden, but with an orange tint.
4. So that the peeled fruits do not darken, they need to be briefly filled with water, acidified with citric acid.
5. For cooking, it is better to use a deep saucepan with a thick bottom.
6. The ideal ratio of granulated sugar to fruit is 1: 1. If there is less sugar, the jam may ferment. The maximum allowable amount of sugar is 1.5 kg per 1 kg of fruit.
7. Citric acid must be added to the jam. It will help him thicken properly and prevent sugaring.
8. Jam should be boiled and completely cooled several times. It will take a lot of time, but only in this way can it be soaked in syrup, become more dense and aromatic, get a rich taste.
9. Lids from boiling water should be removed only when they are already needed in order to close the cans.
10. For jam, it is extremely undesirable to take white peaches: in this case, it will give bitterness.
11. Too unripe fruits as a component of jam will lead to the fact that the taste of goodies will be astringent.
12. Iron caps are best used. Nylon caps are suitable only for the “lazy" version (in this case we are talking about peaches, grated with sugar).
13. If the jam seems to be liquid, it should be cooked for some more time.
14. Since the jam is left for a long time, insects should be prevented from entering it, for example, cover with gauze and tie.

How to cook peach jam: recipes

Ordinary peach jam for the winter

Required:

• 1 kg of peaches;
• 1 kg of granulated sugar;
• 1 tsp citric acid;
• vanillin;
• a glass of boiling water.

Hold clean peaches in boiling water for 15–20 seconds, then transfer them to a bowl filled with cold water, acidified with citric acid. Extract fruits from there and peel.

Pour sugar into water, mix and put on medium heat. Wait until the mixture boils, remove the foam that has appeared. Cut peaches into slices, discard the seeds, lower the pulp into syrup. Repeat previous steps. Then clean in a dark place and leave to cool there. Then again start the cooking process and, when boiling, reduce the heat and cook on low heat for half an hour. When the jam is almost fully respected, you need to add citric acid there. Put the jam in small glass jars, turn them upside down and wrap them in a warm blanket or blanket.

The second option is jam for the winter
This recipe uses the same ingredients as the first option.

Peel peels, remove seeds and discard. Sprinkle the pulp with sugar to form a juice. After a few hours, pour the juice into a saucepan, boil and, removing from heat, pour the pulp on it. These steps must be repeated several times. The result is a beautiful translucent jam with large undigested pieces of peach.

Peach Jam with Almonds

Required:

• 1 kg of ripe yellow peaches (regular or nectarines);
• 1 kg of granulated sugar;
• a glass of almond;
• 2 pinches of cinnamon.

Peaches should be peeled, cut into slices, sprinkled with granulated sugar and allowed to stand for a couple of hours. After this time, put the saucepan on the stove, wait until the mixture boils, and cook another 10 minutes. Then remove the foam and leave overnight, covering with gauze.

Cook the almonds for 5 minutes, peel, halve. Put jam on the fire again, wait until it boils, and pour in almonds and cinnamon. This mixture needs to be boiled for another 10 minutes, and then laid out in sterilized jars.

Peach Jam Fragrant with Cinnamon

Required:

• 1–1.5 kg of ripe, yellow and strong peaches;
• 1 kg of granulated sugar;
• cinnamon (powder or stick);
• citric acid at the tip of a knife or 1 lemon.

Free peaches and cut into slices (peeling fruits in this recipe is not required). Transfer slices into a deep saucepan. Pour a glass of water into yet another deep container and add all the sugar there, put on fire and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Pour slices of peaches with the resulting hot syrup, add cinnamon and citric acid. Bring the mixture to a boil, cool completely, then boil again and cool.

If ordinary lemon is used instead of citric acid, squeeze juice out of it and pour it into the jam. Then bring the jam to a boil again and boil for another half an hour. At the end of cooking, remove the cinnamon stick. Put the resulting jam into sterilized jars and roll up.

Minimalistic whole peach jam

Ingredients: peaches and granulated sugar in equal parts.

Wash peaches, peel and prick with a fork. Put in a prepared bowl, cover with granulated sugar and leave for several hours. Then put the fruits on fire and simmer for a couple of hours.

Minimalistic peach jam

1. Pour peaches for several seconds with boiling water, and then with cold water to facilitate the passage of the skin. Remove seeds, cut the flesh into halves. Alternate the prepared fruits with sugar layers and leave for several hours until the juice is released.
2. After that, put the peaches with the resulting juice on the fire, bring to a boil, cook for a couple of minutes and completely cool.
3. Remove the peaches from the syrup, and boil the syrup again over low heat, periodically removing the foam.
4. Put halves of peaches in syrup. Bring the mixture to a boil again and place in sterilized jars.

Greek Vitamin Peach Jam for Lazy

Ingredients: peaches and granulated sugar in equal parts.

Cut the fruits in half, pull out the seeds. Grind the halves with a blender or meat grinder, transfer to a suitable deep container and mix thoroughly with sugar until it is completely dissolved. Transfer the resulting mixture into jars and close with plastic lids.

This option allows you to save maximum vitamins and minerals. But you need to remember the specific storage rules: in this case, the jam is stored only in the refrigerator, while not very long.

Peach and orange jam

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of slightly unripe peaches;
• 1 kg of granulated sugar;
• 1 fruit of an orange;
• a glass of boiling water.

Peaches to peel, get rid of seeds, cut the flesh into small pieces and put in a prepared bowl. Remove the peel from the orange and squeeze the juice (best through a manual juicer). Strain the juice.

Cook the syrup from granulated sugar and water specified in the recipe, add orange juice to it and boil for a few more minutes. Pour peach wedges with a hot mixture. Wait for complete cooling. Pull out the fruits, boil the syrup again and pour peaches and oranges on them again. When the mixture has cooled, boil the syrup along with pieces of fruit over low heat. Fill the sterilized jars with the mixture and roll up.

Spicy jam

Required:

• 1 kg of strong ripe peaches;
• 1 kg of granulated sugar;
• a pinch of saffron and citric acid;
• glass of water.

Remove the peel from the fruit, dip it in water with citric acid for a while so that the flesh does not darken. Cut peaches in half, pull out the seeds, put in a bowl. In a saucepan, boil the syrup using sugar and water, pour them into the prepared halves. Leave on for 24 hours. After a day, the syrup must be poured into a saucepan and boiled. Leave again for a day. After this, the jam again needs to be boiled, periodically removing the foam, and boil until tender. At the very end, add citric acid and saffron. Arrange the jam in clean, dry jars. Instead of a lid, use parchment tied with twine.

Nectarine Jam

Required:

• 1 kg of ripe nectarines;
• 1 kg of granulated sugar;
• lemon juice to taste;
• glass of water.

Cut the nectarines in half, pull out the bones. Then chop the pulp into pieces. In a saucepan, boil the syrup from water and sugar. When it cools down a little, pour in the lemon juice (if it is not there, you can use ordinary citric acid). Put the chopped fruits in syrup, mix and leave for 24 hours. After this time, you need to bring the mixture to a boil, from time to time removing the resulting foam. Again leave the jam for 24 hours. Then boil it for about 10 minutes. Arrange the cooled nectarine jam in sterilized jars.

Jam storage rules

1. It is best to use half-liter glass jars (pre-sterilized) for peach jam.
2. It must be remembered that a large amount of sugar increases the risk of swelling of the lid. To prevent this, you need to add citric acid or lemon juice to the jam.
3. The density of jam also affects the reliability of storage: the thicker the product obtained, the longer it will remain.
4. Ideally, peach jam should be stored in the refrigerator. But such an opportunity is available only if there are two or three jars. If there are more jars and there is no space in the refrigerator, jam can be stored at room temperature.
5. It is advisable to place the jars in a place protected from sunlight (for example, a pantry).
6. No need to store jam in the cellar: temperature jumps are fraught with the fact that the jar can crack.

If the recipe is followed, then the jam can be stored for several years. If, for some reason, peach jam is cooked together with the seeds, it should be stored very briefly, since an extremely dangerous poison - hydrocyanic acid - is released. If no seeds were removed from the fruit, this jam should not be stored for longer than 7-8 months.

An open jar should be stored exclusively in the refrigerator.

If a simplified version of jam is chosen (without cooking), the jars should be stored strictly in the refrigerator.

Peach Jam: Contraindications and Precautions

1. Jam is strictly prohibited for people suffering from diabetes and obesity.
2. With great care, women should use jam during lactation, since the baby may experience an allergic reaction.
3. Peach jam can be given to children over the age of one.
4. People suffering from acute pancreatitis are not allowed to consume peach jam: in such individuals, it significantly increases the risk of developing diabetes. However, during the period of remission, jam, on the contrary, will be useful, but only when consumed in small quantities.
5. With a low acidity of the stomach, sour jam should be consumed, with an increased - sweet. If you have gastritis or a stomach ulcer, you should consult your doctor before using jam.
6. With individual intolerance to the individual ingredients that make up the jam, and the occurrence of allergic reactions, peach jam should be excluded from the diet.

Interesting facts about peaches

1. Although peaches are very healthy, they can also be harmful to the body. This is because the fruits have the ability to accumulate pesticides. However, most of them are not destroyed even during the cooking process.
2. In China, the peach tree is still a symbol of longevity. This is due to the fact that in this country from ancient times they are familiar with the useful qualities of these delicious and fragrant fruits.
3. Peach kernels contain not only hydrocyanic acid, but also peach oil - an ingredient widely used in cosmetology.
4. Cores are an ingredient in some types of alcoholic beverages (e.g. liquor, wine).
5. Sometimes a bone is very difficult to separate from the pulp. In this case, a special spoon is used.
6. Peach trees appeared due to multiple crosses of other species - wild peaches, plums, apricots, etc.
7. "Peach" in our language comes from the word "Persian" (peach - Persian apple).
8. The country of origin of the peach is most likely northern China.
9. The smoothness or “shaggy” of the fruits and the ease of separating the pulp from the seed make it possible to divide peaches into subspecies (ordinary peaches, nectarines, brignoni, etc.).
10. Nectarines are the same peaches, but with smooth skin. They were bred as an alternative to ordinary peaches, which do not tolerate cold.
11. Peaches are actively used in cosmetology. They help moisturize the skin.
12. There are peaches of different shapes. The round fruits familiar to us are not the only option. You can find peaches even flat in shape.
13. In our country, peaches began to be cultivated in the 16th century in the southern regions.
14. The leader in growing peaches is China. In second place is Italy.
15. Peach bones are extremely dangerous. Their nuclei contain hydrocyanic acid, which is a poison.
16. Wild peaches were consumed in ancient China as far back as 2000 BC. e.
17. Peaches have a beneficial effect on the nervous system, are a powerful antidepressant, relieve insomnia, increase mood, and have a calming effect.
18. Peaches even ate on the moon. It was this fruit that was first consumed by an astronaut during an expedition to the Earth’s satellite.
19. Fresh peaches are low in calories, but at the same time contribute to a quick and long-term sense of fullness. They are completely fat free.
20. Peaches are rich in minerals that strengthen muscles and the musculoskeletal system.
21. Peaches appeared on the American continent thanks to the expedition of Christopher Columbus.
22. Heat treatment almost does not deprive peaches of vitamins and minerals, which can not be said about most other fruits.
23. Vitamin A, which is rich in fruit, is especially useful during the holidays, as it helps to tan evenly and not to get tanned.
24. One fruit contains half the daily intake of vitamin C.
25. In ancient Greece, peach appeared in the 4th century. BC.
26. In the 17-18 centuries. in the first place for growing peaches and nectarines was France.
27. A peach is a fruit, not a berry, because it is a succulent fruit of a tree from an ovary of flowers and has one seed.
28. In modern Europe, peach is the third most popular fruit after apples and pears.
29. Peach - a natural aphrodisiac (helps increase libido). In some Asian countries (Japan and China), it symbolizes fertility.
30. The fact that the birthplace of peach is Persia (as the name implies) is a myth. For a long time it really was thought so, but this assumption turned out to be erroneous. The birthplace of the peach tree is China.
31. Haidao - the art of carving on the bones of fruits (primarily peach).