Diane's Peach & Cherry Jam

     First off, I want to thank The Washington State Fruit Commission for sending me such fabulous fruits as part of my 2017 Canbassadorship!  I love trying to come up with new flavors, fresh ideas, and inventive concoctions!   Since I had just canned up Danish Cherry Sauce using my Sweet Cherries from Northwest Cherries, I wondered how that would 'pair' with peaches.  The pairing it great - such a wonderful outcome using the two fruits together and the cherries being spiced up already.  I have written out below how you can get the same 'effect' in this jam without having to first can up some Danish Cherry Sauce (although, its worth doing because that alone is out of the World - great!)  I hope you enjoy this jam as much as we are enjoying it!! I will be sharing a new no sugar peach jam here soon - its a softer set jam but, most all no sugar jams are - stay tuned!  Enjoy! ~Diane  

Diane's Peach & Cherry Jam 
*lower in sugar then traditional peach jams
Ingredients: 
4-1/2 cups chopped Peaches
1 cup sweet chopped Cherries 
2 cups Sugar + 2 Tbs; *divided
1-1/2 cups Honey 
2 Tbs + 1 tsp Sure jell Pectin (1/2 box, pink box low sugar pectin) 
1 Cinnamon Stick about 4" long
1/4 medium Navel Orange; the juice (1 Tbs) and zest
1 Lemon; the juice (2 Tbs) and zest 
2 Tbs Water 
1/8 tsp Butter, to prevent foaming 
1/2 tsp Almond Extract

Directions: 

Place chopped peaches and cherries in a large bowl, add one cup of sugar, toss to coat, cover and set in fridge overnight. This will macerate the fruit (this releases the juices and deepens the fruit flavor in finished product)
Take Macerated fruit, and all the juices in bowl and scrape into a large jam pot adding in the cinnamon stick. Cook down 15 minutes on medium (keep an eye on it and stir to prevent scorching) Add in sugar, honey, orange and lemon juice, zest and water (*reserve 2 Tbs of sugar for later.) Stir and cook down the entire mixture another 30-45 minutes (it should start to thicken as it cooks down)
Remove cinnamon stick. Add in butter, then use an immersion blender (or mash with a potato masher) and break up large chunks of fruit until you get the consistency of jam you prefer **do not liquefy the mixture. I prefer to leave some larger bits of peach and cherry in mine. Take your pectin and 2 Tbs of the reserved sugar and stir together in a small bowl. Raise the heat on your jam mixture to High. Add in the sugar/pectin mix and stir constantly until you are at a boil that cannot be stirred away - boil hard for one minute. I usually look for a craggy skin to start to form around the edges of the pot/mixture...indicating gel stage has been released. Remove pot from heat, stir in almond extract, do freezer plate test and prepare to jar jam for processing.
Waterbath Can at 1/4" head-space for 10 minutes, adjusting for your altitude. Remove to a draft free area and let sit undisturbed for 12-24 hours.  Wash & Label Jars. Store in Pantry up to One Year.  Once opened, this lower sugar jam can be refrigerated up to 3 weeks. 

Makes approx 7 half pints 

Pinterest Pin: www.pinterest.com/pin/530510031096585489/
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Recipe and Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home