A friend of mine gifted me a box of white nectarines from his farm. They’re sweet, ripe, and juicy, and once we ate as many as we could, we turned the rest into this simple, lovely preserve.
I’ve been playing around with a couple of different variations on this recipe. I think my favorite is spiced with vanilla bean, but I also really enjoy a version with warm pie spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and some ground ginger.
(Makes: I forgot to write down how many half-pint jars. 7? I think it was 7.)
Cook Time: an hour, plus overnight to macerate the fruit.
Ingredients:
- 4 1/2 lbs. white nectarines, pits removed and sliced into quarters
- 2 1/2 c. sugar
- 1 1/2 oz. lemon juice
- optional: 1 vanilla bean
In a large, nonreactive pot, combine the sliced nectarines, sugar, and lemon juice.
If you want to add the vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into the fruit mixture and nestle the pod in with the sliced fruit.
Cover with saran wrap (right up against the fruit to prevent browning) and refrigerate for around 24 hours.
Bring boiling-water canner to a boil and prepare jars and lids. Cook the jam, stirring to prevent burning until it gels (click here if you don’t know what I’m talking about) or reaches 220 degrees on a candy thermometer.
About halfway through the cooking time, I mashed the fruit up with a potato masher to make it more of a jammy consistency. You don’t have to; you could leave the fruit in bigger pieces to make it more like a preserve.
Alternatively, run half of the cooked jam through a food mill to remove the skins and make it like a jam instead of a preserve (thicker, with fewer big chunks of fruit). It’s up to your personal preference.
Ladle hot jam into hot, clean jars leaving 1/4″ headspace.
Process for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude as necessary.
P.S. You could make this recipe with yellow nectarines too, but you might not need as much lemon juice since they’re more acidic than white nectarines. Taste them and see.
Other variations of this recipe:
These sweet and juicy white nectarines are a wonderful way to add some natural sweetness and antioxidants to your diet. Unfortunately, they have a very short season, so you won’t see them in the grocery store or at your local farmers market year-round.
When nectarine season comes around, stock up on these luscious fruits and make some white nectarine preserves to enjoy when they’re out of season again.
Making your own homemade white nectarine jam is easy with this simple recipe. These preserves are perfect over toast, ice cream, or pancakes.
What You’ll Need
– Nectarines
You’ll need 5 pounds of nectarines to make 5 cups of sliced fruit. You can use white or yellow nectarines, but white nectarines are lower in sugar and have a less robust flavor.
– Sugar
6 cups of granulated sugar is needed to make this recipe. You can use any type of granulated sugar, but natural sweeteners like coconut sugar or maple syrup can be substituted.
If you use less refined sugar, you may need to play with the ratio a bit since different granulated sugars have different amounts of water in them.
– Pectin
One box of pectin is needed for this recipe. It can be found at grocery stores next to the canning supplies or online.
– Jar
You’ll need a wide-mouth quart jar for this recipe.
Step 1: Peel and slice the nectarines
Start by peeling the nectarines. It’s best to leave the peels on while cooking and then remove them after the preserves are done.
You can use a knife to slice the nectarines or use a food processor to chop them. You’ll need 5 cups of sliced nectarines.
Step 2: Cook the nectarines
Start by cooking the nectarines on a low boil in a large saucepan. The mixture will take around 45 minutes to an hour to come to a boil.
Stir occasionally to prevent the fruit from sticking to the pan. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for between 15 minutes and 1 hour, until the nectarines are very soft.
Step 3: Add pectin and sugar
After the nectarines are cooked, add the pectin and stir well to combine. Then, add the sugar and stir until it is dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil again. The amount of time it takes to bring to a boil again will depend on how much liquid is in the pan.
Step 4: Boil and strain the mixture
After bringing the mixture to a boil, let it boil for one minute. Then, remove the pot from the heat and let it cool for around 15 minutes.
Pour the mixture through a strainer and into a large bowl. Let the mixture cool for at least an hour, or until it has reached room temperature.
You can speed up the cooling process by placing a bowl of ice water on top of the bowl that has the preserves in it.
Step 5: Enjoy your homemade white nectarine preserves!
Once the preserves are fully cooled, you can store them in the fridge. They are ready to eat and enjoy once they’ve cooled down but can be stored for up to a year. Enjoy these sweet and delicious homemade white nectarine preserves on toast, ice cream, or pancakes.
3 thoughts on “White Nectarine Preserves”
Michelle says:Just want to be clear – can you leave the skins on?Reply- Caroline says:yes, you can!Reply
- Allison (Spontaneous Tomato) says:This is a great idea! I have too many (ok, no such thing, I know…) nectarines right now, but hadn’t really thought of preserving them (I was just going to peel them, slice them, and freeze them in freezer bags to blend into frozen yogurt or smoothies).Reply
Michelle says:
Caroline says:
