Description
Spirited fruits are a wonderful way bring out the full-boded flavour of the fruit with out overpowering its natural flavour. Ideal for glazing ham, spirited fruit can also jazz up dessert. Use them to fill crepes, spoon them over ice cream or bake them into a clafoutis.
Ingredients
Fruit
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups water
- 7 cups sliced, pitted, peeled peaches, treated to prevent browning (see notes for quantities required with other fruits)
Per 250 mL (1 cup) jar
- 1 tablespoon rum or brandy (OR 1 1/2 teaspoons liqueur like peach schnapps)
Instructions
- Prepare canner, jars and lids. See notes section for link to detailed instructions.
- In a large stainless steel saucepan, over medium-high heat, combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add the fruit, stirring constantly, and return to a boil. Reduce heat and gently boil for 5 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, pack apricots into hot jars to within a generous 1/2 inch of top of jar and add the spirit of choice. Ladle hot syrup into jar to cover the fruit, leaving headspace, if necessary, by adding hot syrup. Wipe rim. Centre lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
- Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 20 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.
Notes
Spirited Fruit Variations:
• 4 cups sliced, pitted, peeled apricots, treated to prevent browning
• 8 1/2 cups quartered, peeled, cored pears, treated to prevent browning
• 12 cups washed and drained blueberries (process for 15 minutes)
• 5 cups cherries with pits (7 1/2 cups unpitted cherries if you want to pit them first) (process for 10 minutes)
How to Prevent Fruit From Browning: To prevent apples, apricots, peaches, and pears from turning brown once cut, submerge cut fruit in a mixture of 1/4 cup lemon juice and 4 cups water.
New to canning? Ball has detailed instructions, complete with videos, on how to get started.