Earl's "Sex on the Beach" Jam
Fun to make and delicious to eat, this non-alcoholic version of the cocktail of the same name is one of my personal favorites (and an experiment I've tweaked until I've become proud of the results!)
Yield: 8 pint jars
Ingredients
- 4 lbs oranges, (See note below for details)
- 1 can of jelled cranberry sauce, (whole berry)
- 6 white peaches
- 4 lemons
- 1+1/2 cup agave syrup
- 1 cup pectin
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 large, metal pot
Note:
*I used Valencia oranges because they're very flavorful and they're in season at the same time the white peaches are. In order to get the natural, delicious sweetness that makes this recipe really stand out, it's best to get your white peaches and valencia oranges when they're at their maximum ripeness. (I picked mine up from the local farmer's market.)
- Cut the oranges in half, remove all the seeds you can (do it over the pot so that you lose as little of the juice as possible) and then peel them. Discard the peels and place the sweet, meaty parts of the oranges in a food processor or blender. Process until chunky/near liquid. You can do this with a knife too, but it takes a lot longer (and you'll probably lose some of the juice.)
- Put a large metal pot on the stove on low heat.
- Stir in oranges and cranberry sauce.
- Roll the lemons on a hard surface to maximize the amount of juice you can get out of them. Slice in half, squeeze as much of the juice into the pot as you can, then set aside or throw away the seeds.
- Cut the peaches in half and remove the pit (throw away or set aside.) Place peach halves into your processing device (or use a knife to cut them up into little tiny pulpy bits.)
- Stir peaches into mix in pot.
- Continue to stir throughout the whole process. Add agave syrup, vanilla, pectin and sugar. After a few minutes, turn heat up to medium and stir until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed together. Taste (carefully) and add additional sugar (or lemon juice) to taste. The vanilla will be strong at this point, but will mellow as the mix cooks. Initially, the pectin and sugar will try to bind up into little clumps, so break those up as you stir.
- Bring ingredients to a low boil and let them boil for about ten minutes (stir regularly enough and adjust heat so you get a few bubbles but the boil doesn't become foamy and roiling.)
- Turn off the heat, continue to stir. Once mixture starts to thicken and cool a little (about 5 minutes) Ladle into sterilized jars to within 1 to 1/2 inch of the rim. Wipe rims clean, then seal in your preferred canning method (I tend to stick the tightly-lidded jars in the oven at 225 for about 30 minutes to seal them-- my first batch took closer to 40 minutes at 240 to set) Jars will be hot before and after you put them in the oven, so be careful when handling them.
- Allow jars to cool somewhere safe and out of reach of pets and children. Once jars are cool, check the seals to make sure they're down and not popped. If any of the jars have popped lids, keep them in the fridge and eat them as soon as you can (aka: before they go bad. Shouldn't be a problem because they're so darn good.)
- Enjoy!
