White Peaches with Champagne and Vanilla

From the Cooking Light Forum Archives, submitted by Beth, who seems to be incredibly knowledgable about canning.

I promised to tell when I did the second batch of white peaches and champagne. Here’s what I did —

4 to 4-1/2 cups peeled and sliced white peaches
juice of 1 lemon
juice of 1 small orange (or 1/2 huge navel in my case)
2 tsp vanilla extract (cheaper and easier to control)
4 cups sugar

Combine all the above in a large pot and let mascerate for about an hour. Bring to a simmer, remove from heat. Cover and cool. Refrigerate overnight.

Next day, bring to a boil and cook on high heat 5 minutes. Add

1 cup champagne

Mixture will foam for a minute before it settles down. Continue to cook, stirring gently from time to time, until it reaches the gel point. Pour into hot jars, wipe, seal and process for 5 minutes.

Makes about 4 cups

The vanilla in this batch is not quite as strong as the one I did before, but it is there. I think that is probably a good amount, and it really rounds out the delicate flavor of the white peaches. I think this is going to be a really special gift jam. 🙂