Peach Season is upon us!

When the air starts to feel heavy with sunshine and the days begin to shorten, I know that peach season is right around the corner.  Peaches in Northern Michigan can be found at farmer's markets and fruit stands for a few weeks, typically during the month of August. The small golden orbs require lots of golden sunshine to ripen. Then glorious summer of all summers, the wonderful sweet fruit makes its way to our tables in the form of fresh peaches, peach pie, peach crostinis, peach parfaits and one of my favorite recipes for my friends and family that require low sugar diets ( although all of us would benefit from lowering our sugar intake); peach butter.

 Natural and nourishing, this peach butter preserves the best of our warm summer fruits without the addition of sugar. The pure sweet taste of peaches is the star in this low calorie butter.

 Yum.

Peach butter always starts with fresh and nicely ripe peaches.  There are lots of places in Northern Michigan to pick your own peaches.  Jacobs Corn Maze on Hwy. 72 heading out to Empire has a U-Pick Peaches.
And, if you'd rather just buy your sweet beauties, then right across the street is Gallagher's Farm Market and Bakery.  They usually have at least two varieties of peaches along with lots of other local produce to fill your basket

 

 Peach Butter Recipe

Peach Butter is simple to prepare and rich in flavor with the addition of warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Make sure that you are using only ripe peaches.

Ingredients

• 8 lbs. fresh, ripe peaches
• 1 1/2 T of cinnamon
• 1 t ground ginger
• 1/4 t nutmeg
• 1/4 t cloves
• 1/4 cardamom
• 1/4 allspice

Instructions

Mix all of the spices together in a separate bowl.
Parboil your peaches for one minute in a boiling water bath to remove the skin.  Immerse in a water bath immediately to stop the cooking of the peach.
Remove the pit.
Throw your peach sections into a food processor and blend until liquid and chunky.
Pour your peach puree into a dutch oven or thick bottomed pot and stir half of your mixed spices into your peach puree.
Taste and add additional spice mixture, or salt to taste.
Simmer your peach puree for approximately one hour on medium low heat.
Blend until smooth with an immersion blender and pour into pint-sized mason jars and refrigerate or can using the water bath method.

 Parboil your peaches for approximately one minute to loosen
the skin.

Place the peaches in a ice cold water bath after their parboil.

Peach butter is one of the easiest things to make from peaches.  The sweet fragrant peach is the star in this melody of flavors that includes some deep, warming spices.  This flavor, to me, slathered on some toasted and buttered 9 Bean Rows  sourdough   means the end of summer and yet,  the beginning of fall.