Spiced Peach Butter

So we leave for Texas tomorrow.  At 3pm I had nothing packed and had a million things to do.  But the only thing that really bothered me was the fact that I had 6 pounds of peaches on the counter that were going to go waste if I didn't do something with them. 

So I got to make peach butter.  And at 930pm at night I finally finished.  Yea!  This makes approximately 7 half-pints.

Here is what I used:

6 pounds of peaches
1/2 cup water
4 cups of sugar
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
1/2 tsp of ginger

Step 1: Blanch Peaches

Don't stop.  I know the word 'blanch' is intimidating, but don't stop.  Just keep going.  It really isn't as bad as it seems!

I found a really good YouTube video that helped walk through the steps of blanching.  If you have never done it before, you should take a few minutes and watch it.  It will take some of the fear out of the unknown.

Here are a few pictures I took during the process:

30-45 seconds in boiling water.

1 minute in ice-cold water.

Easy peel.

After the peaches were blanched, I peeled then pitted them.  I sliced them and placed the slices in a large stockpot with a 1/2 cup water and let it simmer for about 20 minutes, until all the peaches were soft. 

Sliced and ready to simmer to soften.

Step 2: Prepare Butter

After removing the soften peaches from the stove, I took a small amount at a time and pureed them in a small food processor.  The objective is to not processes them too much - you want some texture.  After doing this process you should have around 2 quarts of pureed peaches.

Peach puree.

Place pureed peaches back into the stockpot and add sugar and spices.  Mix together well.  Place on the stove and turn on to medium heat.

Spices.

When you first place the peaches on the stove they are going to be really runny.  I cooked this on the stove for about 2 hours before it was the right consistency.  When you turn your spoon to the side, the peach mixture should slowly fall off.  You want it to be thick.  This is a fine line - you don't want it too runny for sure.  And too thick won't be good either.  Use your best judgement.  As you cook it longer, you'll have to stir more to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Step 3: Can and Process

Pour hot butter into hot, sterilized jars leaving at least 1/4 inch headspace.  Remove bubbles.  Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.  Cool completely before storing.  If you need more information about how to can, you can read my previous post when I canned Homemade Italian Red Sauce. 

Sterilized jars.

Good luck.  I'm so tired.  I probably made no sense explaining how to do this!  If you have questions just let me know. I might make more sense on vacation - but maybe not :)

Spiced Peach Butter Half-Pints.