Last week, I was delighted to receive a beautiful box full of Washington fruit from the Washington Fruit Commission. I was selected to be a member of their Canbassador campaign which promotes the preservation of fruit. It wasn't a stretch for me at all, because I love to can and preserve fresh fruits and veggies for my family. If you check out their website Sweet Preservation, there are tons of great recipes for preserving peaches, plums, cherries, nectarines and apricots. I chose to stick with the simple old version for canning these fruits. I simply made a syrup and cut the fruits into serving size. Recipes follow...
Canned Nectarines
1. Wash fruit in cold water. Cut around the fruit and split in half. Remove pits/centers using a large spoon and cut into fourths. Place in clean, sterilized jars, filling jar to just below ring line.
2. Place a large pot on the stove and make syrup. The syrup recipe I use calls for 5 1/2 cups water and 2 1/4 cups sugar. It should yield about six cups of syrup. It usually takes about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups of syrup per quart sized jar, so you'll have to do the math to figure out how many batches of syrup you will need to make. Bring the syrup to a boil, but be very careful not to spill it on your hot stove. It makes a mess ;)
3. Pour boiling syrup over nectarines in jar, tapping jar to remove air bubbles. I try to do one batch at a time so that the nectarines do not start to brown. Wipe rims clean. Add seal and ring to jar.
4. Process in boiling hot water bath for 30 minutes for quart jars, 25 minutes for pint jars. Do not start timing until the water begins to boil. Remove and store.
Canned Peaches
1. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Drop whole peaches into boiling water for about 60-80 seconds. Immediately transfer to a sink full of cold water to cool.
2. Peel peaches and cut in half. Remove pit and any bruised spots. Cut into fourths or eighths and place in clean, sterilized jars, filling jar to just below ring line.
3. Place a large pot on the stove and make syrup. The syrup recipe I use
calls for 5 1/2 cups water and 2 1/4 cups sugar. It should yield about
six cups of syrup. It usually takes about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups of syrup
per quart sized jar, so you'll have to do the math to figure out how
many batches of syrup you will need to make. Bring the syrup to a boil,
but be very careful not to spill it on your hot stove. It makes a mess
;)
4. Pour boiling syrup over peaches in jar, tapping to remove air bubbles. I try to do one batch at a
time so that the nectarines do not start to brown. Wipe rims clean. Add
seal and ring to jar.
5. Process in boiling hot water bath for 30 minutes for quart jars, 25 mintes for pint jars. Do
not start timing until the water begins to boil. Remove and store.
Canned Plums
1. Wash fruit in cold water. Cut around the fruit and split in half.
Remove pits and cut in half. Place in
clean, sterilized jars, filling jar to just below ring line.
2.
Place a large pot on the stove and make syrup. The syrup recipe I use
calls for 5 1/2 cups water and 2 1/4 cups sugar. It should yield about
six cups of syrup. It usually takes about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups of syrup
per quart sized jar, so you'll have to do the math to figure out how
many batches of syrup you will need to make. Bring the syrup to a boil,
but be very careful not to spill it on your hot stove. It makes a mess
;)
3. Pour boiling syrup over plums in jar, tapping to remove air bubbles. Wipe rims clean. Add seal and ring to
jar.
4. Process in boiling hot water bath for 30 minutes for quart
jars, 25 minutes for pint jars. Do not start timing until the water
begins to boil. Remove and store.
Besides eating the fruit as a side dish, we really enjoy it in a cobbler. This recipe is an old old recipe, and it is very simple (with very few ingredients). It is delicious plain, or served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and it is good with any of the above canned fruits. This is such an easy recipe, that Grace makes it all the time for our family. It's a great one for teaching your kids to bake!
Old Fashioned Fruit Cobbler
-1 stick butter
-1 1/2 cups flour
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-2 tsp. baking powder
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1 1/2 cups milk
-1 tsp. almond extract
-1 quart of canned fruit, drained
Preheat over to 350 degrees. Place stick of butter in 9"x13" baking pan and place in oven until melted. Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients and mix well. Add milk and almond extract and milk until smooth. Pour into pan with melted butter. Drop fruit pieces into batter and bake about 40 minutes or until golden brown.
