Sometime in the last week, I hit my canning season tipping point. It’s that moment when I transition from making carefully adjusted recipes to just simply trying to get things that are threatening to spoil into jars. This stone fruit drizzle is a really good example of this kind of canning.
I had peaches, nectarines, and plums that were shouting to be used. Some had bruises that needed to be cut away and others were so ripe that a knife was entirely unnecessary for pit removal. So I triaged. I pitted, pared, and squished until I had about 16 cups of lumpy, juicy fruit in a big pot. There was no weighing this fruit ahead of time, since so much of it needed some kind of trimming.
I added three cups of sugar, gave it a good stir, and forgot about it for several hours. Once dinner was done and the dishes were put away, I turned on the heat. Even at that point, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was making. Was it jam? A chunky compote? Or something else?
As it cooked down, I realized that it was going to become a drizzle. This is what I call the category of preserve that exists in between a syrup and a fruit butter. It’s sweeter and thinner than standard butters, but manages to have far more body than a conventional fruit syrup.
Once it was cooked down to my liking, I zapped it with an immersion blender until it as totally smooth. At that point, it went into jars with about 1/2 inch of headspace. Rims wiped, lids and rings on, processed for 15 minutes (because it was thickening up to be a pretty dense preserve).
This batch made 6 pints (yes, there are only 5 1/2 pictured above, but there’s also another half pint in the fridge that didn’t get processed). I will give some of it away with instructions that it be spooned over yogurt, oatmeal, and cake. I will eat it in much the same manner.
Other drizzles I’ve made in the past can be found here and here.
It’s really heartening to see someone of your caliber does this same thing. Between our fruit trees and shrubs/canes I find myself swimming in other Frequently the fruit requires a bit of salvaging and after all that I’m not to keen on sorting out a fancy recipe so into the pot it goes frequently with whatever else is sitting around about to go off.