Every now and then, the stone fruit (peaches, apricots, nectarines, etc.) gets banged up during delivery. Eatwell Farm CSA Member Emma Logan has a tasty stone fruit jam recipe that uses up those banged up fruits and turns them into something delicious.
Emma's Stone Fruit Jam Recipe:
I use a very simple jam recipe for any fruit I can't eat fast enough or that is just a little overripe for my taste.
1/2 cup granulated sugar for every cup of diced fruit
juice from 1/2 lemon (up to the juice of a whole lemon if you're doing a really big batch)
vanilla bean (optional)
Combine diced fruit and sugar in a nonreactive pot, stirring well. Add the vanilla bean whole, if using. Put on medium heat until mixture comes to a simmer and then adjust heat to maintain that simmer (you'll have to adjust multiple times), stirring often, until the jam comes to 220 degrees F. Some people tell you to skim the foam off but I always just stir it back in. This can take a few hours so don't start the project if you need to rush off. If you don't have a reliable thermometer, you can put a plate in the freezer and test your jam by putting a small blob on the plate when it starts looking jam-like. If you can draw your finger through the blob and it maintains the line without seepage, your jam is good to go. Stir in the lemon juice and take off the heat while you prepare your container(s). Be sure to remove the vanilla bean before storing.
You can then put the jam in sterilized jars and can it, or you can put it in the fridge or freezer (I still recommend sterilizing the jars with hot water). Sometimes I've made less than a jar of jam, so it just goes right in the refrigerator. Jam is great in plain yogurt, over ice cream, on toast, or in thumbprint cookies. And depending on your fruit choice can also be good on meats.
I most recently made this recipe with a cup of nectarines, a cup of peaches, and a cup of apricots. It's fine to play around with the sugar amounts to taste but I already have the sweetness dialed back since our CSA fruit comes so sweet. If you do all apricots you may need to increase the sugar to almost 1:1 unless you like a tart jam.
- Emma