This delicious homemade peach marmalade is easy to prepare, low in sugar and requires no pectin! Beautiful peachy color, great thickness, and fantastic taste - this marmalade actually feels like summer in a jar!
Who doesn't love homemade marmalade? Spread with butter on a warm toast, in between cake layers, on cookies and crêpes; I don't think that there is someone who would turn down a jar of freshly made marmalade. Making jams and preserves always remind me of September, school start and autumn on our doors. Of that cozy sweater weather, yellow leaves, and baking season.
In my family, jams and marmalades are made for years strictly in-house, where my mom, my sisters and I would make dozens of different jams that will sweeten up our winter days. This year I made apricot, peach, plum and blackberry marmalade as I really enjoy this process and I love adding them to my meals, especially breakfast.
Preparing marmalade at home may sound like a lot of work, but with this recipe, you will change your mind I am sure! This delicious homemade peach marmalade is easy to prepare, low in sugar and requires no pectin! Beautiful peachy color, great thickness, and fantastic taste - this marmalade actually feels like summer in a jar.
Forget about several hours of cooking, this recipe requires 30 minutes of your time. The amount of sugar used is way lower than in the ones you may buy in the store, and this is why I love it so much! Peaches are a pretty sweet fruit on their own, and if preserved well, this marmalade can last up to one year! Read along as I will share all the tips and tricks I've learned from my mother over the years.
Ingredients required for this recipe are simple: peaches of your choice and sugar. Easy right?
I used nectarines for this specific recipe as they were very ripe and sweet, but you can also use yellow or white regular peaches. Also, the same method can be used for apricots too. The process is the same, they just might need different cooking time. I find that my apricot marmalade cooks more quickly and is already ready in 20 minutes, whereas peaches need a few minutes more.
For making a good marmalade you want that your fruit is ripe enough as the sweeter the fruit, the less sugar we will be adding to it. The original recipe calls for 2:1 fruit sugar ratio (on 1kg of fruit we add 500g sugar), but as peaches are particularly sweet, 350 to 400 grams is enough. If you want you can add a dash of cinnamon or a splash of vanilla extract for an extra taste. I like mine plain as I use it also in my cakes and tarts.
How to preserve summer in a jar?
a few tips on keeping your marmalade fresh until winter
The method of storing jams and preserves described below is how my mom has been preserving them for years now.
Gear needed for the canning process:
• Clean jars ready to use and fitting lids - get new jars or recycle glass jars from things you have already bought. Just make sure you have all the lids too. 😉
• Baking tray or oven-safe dish where we will warm up the jars
When preparing jams and marmalades, it is important to get all your jars ready to go. Find the ones you want to use - I recommend using smaller/medium jars as in that way you can store more smaller portions of marmalade and don't have to worry about wasting it (once opened the jars are stored in the fridge and should be consumed in a month or so).
If you've already searched this topic, you have probably found different methods of using pots with warm water and finishing cooking your marmalade in that way. The way we will use is much simpler and faster. All you need to do is wash your jars well, place them on a baking tray or an oven-safe dish and put them in a cold oven. We will be heating them on a low temperature to keep them warm, so they don't break when you start filling them with hot marmalade. Usually, I turned the oven on a minimum (150 degrees Celsius) 10 minutes before the jam is ready for canning. In that way, they are warm enough and ready as soon as marmalade has thickened.
Make sure to have a kitchen cloth near as those jars will be very hot, so don't burn yourself when taking them out. Make sure they are warm enough before filling with marmalade. This is very important as if you put hot marmalade in a regular, not preheated jar, the glass jar will actually break!
Fill up your jars and leave a centimeter of space until the top. Close with a lid carefully and turn upside down. Repeat the process for all the jars and place them again on a baking tray (in an upside-down position). Leave them to cool down on a dry place or put them back in the oven that you turned off. Let them cool completely before turning them up.
Once cooled down, turn them so the lids are up again and store in a dark, cool place.
HOW CAN i KNOW WHEN MY MARMALADE IS READY?
Easy! With this "spoon trick," you will never get a runny or overcooked marmalade. All you need to do is to start checking for your marmalade texture after 15 minutes of cooking. With a clean spoon, take a little of your marmalade and place it on a small plate. Go through the marmalade with a top of the spoon and see how it reacts. If it returns quickly, then the marmalade needs a bit more cooking. Repeat your test until the texture is right (remember that marmalade will thicken more during the cooling period so make sure not to overcook it).
This preparing method has been around for years in my family and I assure you it has never failed us. Try preparing a peach marmalade until they are still in season and let me know how it went! I will be sharing my plum marmalade recipe soon, which we will be baking instead of cooking so make sure to subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on Instagram in order to stay up to date with new delicious recipes!
Easy peach marmalade (no pectin)
Marija Gvozdenovic
INGREDIENTS
Makes 6 jars
Prep. time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 1 hour
3kg ripe peaches
1,2kg sugar
METHOD
Wash and peel peaches. Remove the pits, and slice up the peaches.
Place them in a large cooking pan and cover them with sugar. Mix well. Cover the pan with a clean kitchen cloth and leave them overnight or for at least 8 hours. In this way, the fruit will release all the juice and will be easier to cook.
Wash the jars you are planning to use, find all lids, and prepare them for canning.
On medium heat, place the cooking pan with fruit and mix continuously. With the back of your wooden spoon, smash your peaches a bit so they break easier. Turn down the heat and stir until the marmalade thickens. Usually, it takes about 20 to 30 minutes. You will know that the jam is ready when the mixture is thick enough to leave a trail behind the spoon. Once the marmalade starts thickening, remove from heat and stir for another 10 minutes consistently. This will keep the color of your jam very peachy and bright.
In the meantime, place all your washed jars in an oven-safe dish, put them in the oven, and turn them on at 150 degrees Celsius. Your jars should be hot, as, in that way, we will prevent them from cracking once the hot marmalade is poured in.
Once ready, fill up your jar and leave a centimeter of space until the top. Close with a lid carefully and turn upside down. Repeat the process for all the jars and place them again on a baking tray (in an upside-down position). Leave them to cool down in a dry place or put them back in the oven you turned off. Let them cool completely before turning them.
Once cooled down, turn them so the lids are up again and store them in a dark, cool place or enjoy them immediately. Once opened, the jar should be stored in the fridge and consumed within a month.
Note: The quantity of 3kg should be enough for 6 medium glass jars. Quantity may differ from the size of the jars you are using. Note that marmalade will thicken more during the cooling time so make sure not to overcook it.
You need some baking ideas that include marmalade? Try these delicious Soft cookies or bake a batch of good old Linzer cookies. Make sure to follow me on Instagram and tag me when you prepare one of my recipes! I would love to see them!
