Every summer for the last nine years, I’ve teamed up with the folks at the Washington State Fruit Commission. As one of their Canbassadors, they send me boxes of fruit. I take those cherries, peaches, and plums into my kitchen, turn them into various preserves and then share what I’ve done here.
Earlier in the summer, they sent me some cherries, which became Sweet Cherry Butter and Cherry Balsamic Jam. More recently, they sent me 18 pounds of the most glorious, fragrant peaches. I’ve turned them into five different preserves and over the course of this week, I’ll share those recipes right here.
For this first recipe, I’ve made a relatively small batch of peach cardamom jam. This is made without added pectin and requires constant stirring and a bit of bravery at the end of cooking for it to thicken sufficiently. Use a wide pot, turn the heat down a little, and trust your judgment. I have no doubt you can do it.
I use ground cardamom for this preserve and I love both the intense flavor and speckled appearance that it gives the finished jam. You could also try using lightly crushed whole cardamom pods, but take care to count how many you put in so that you can pull them out when the jam is finished (I imagine 5 or 6 pods should do it).
If you want to see what some of the other Canbassadors have done this year, make sure to follow the Washington State Stone Fruit Growers and Northwest Cherries folks on social media, as they’ve been sharing the posts. Here’s where you can find them.
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest
Peach Cardamom Jam
Ingredients
- 3 pounds peaches pitted, peeled, and diced
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 lemon juiced
Instructions
- Prepare a canning pot and four half pint jars.
- Combine the prepped peaches, sugar, cardamom and lemon juice in a low, wide, non-reactive pot and stir to combine.
- Once the sugar has started to dissolve and there's some liquid in the pot, place it on the stove over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring regularly for 15-20 minutes, until the total volume in the pot has reduced by at least one-third and the jam looks quite thick.
- As the jam cooks, use a potato masher to help break down the peaches.
- Funnel the jam into the prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.
- When the time is up, remove the jars and set them on a folded kitchen towel to cool.
- Once the jars have cooled enough that you can comfortably handle them, check the seals. Sealed jars can be stored at room temperature for up to a year. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used promptly.
Great recipe!
Thank you!
I’ve made this recipe before exactly as written, and it was excellent. This time I used two lemons, zest and juice, and also added a bit of freshly ground black pepper. Even better!
Your additions sound delicious!
Hi, can you use nectarines for this recipe? Does it matter if they are white or yellow nectarines? Can you use bottled lemon juice, or do you have to use juice from fresh lemons? Thank you
You can use nectarines, but they must be yellow. White peaches and nectarines don’t have enough acid for safe canning. And you can use bottled lemon juice if you prefer.
Love this jam…and so do others. Only had green cardamon pods and didn’t want to fish them out so crushed the seeds…very easy. Ironically I got interrupted while making and was afraid it had burned, but the slight caramelization was wonderful. To be made again, and overripe peaches work too! Oh, and I did peel the peaches.
So glad you’re pleased!
Delicious, love that it makes a smaller quantity of thick jam and does not require any Sure-Jell. Cardamom is one of my favorite spices.
So glad you enjoyed it!
I made this recipe on July 3rd, I doubled it and processed longer. Delicious!! I got 4 full pints, one 1/2 pint and one 1/4 pint. I have them all in the refrigerator because I think it helps the set. Have had it on toast, on vanilla ice cream and on peanut butter sandwiches – so, so good!! I am making the Smoky, Spicy Tomato Jam this weekend because I have tomatoes needing to be used. Thank you Marisa for so many fantastic recipes!
Thank you for the kind words! I’m so happy to know that you like those recipes!
Made this with fresh and perfectly ripe Ontario peaches and tried it on toast for breakfast, it was to die for! One question though: I forgot to add the lemon juice and did everything else right for canning. Would the jars still be shelf stable for a year?
As long as you used yellow peaches, it is totally safe for canning. The lemon juice in that recipe is for flavor balance, not for safety.
Any reason why Meyer lemon can’t be used instead? It’s what I have in the fridge…
It’s fine to use Meyer lemons in this case, because the lemon juice is there to balance the flavor, not for acidification.
I love this jam. The peach flavor shines with cardamom
I’m so happy to know that you like it!
I got up at 3 AM this morning to make this, along with 2 other of your recipes. I have to say that it made a whole lot more than 4 half pints, which is fine by me, because the taste is delicious! I actually got 11 half pints. I bought 1-pound bags of frozen peach slices to use, so that I had an exact measurement…and because we haven’t gotten any good Yakima peaches down here in Cowlitz County yet.
I want to say that I really appreciate you posting all these small batch canning recipes as it’s just me and my husband and it works out perfectly!
I can’t imagine how this recipe made 11 half pints. That’s 11 cups of product. Three pounds of peaches doesn’t typically yield more than 6 cups of chopped peaches and there’s only 2 cups of sugar. That’s only 8 cups of ingredients at the very start of cooking. But, if you’re happy with it, that’s all that matters.
Is the weight on the fruit before or after the pitting etc?
Can the recipe be doubled safely?
You can always tell in the language of the recipe whether the weight is taken before or after pitting.
If it says “3 pounds peaches, pitted, peeled, and diced” it means that you take the weight first and then break them down.
If it says “3 pounds pitted, peeled, and diced peaches” it means that you break them down first and then weigh them.
And doubling recipes isn’t a safety issue. It’s an issue of set. You will have a hard time getting this recipe to set up well if you double it.
Marisa, how long can the fruit, sugar, cardamom and lemon juice mixture be held until it can be cooked and water bath preserved?
It will hold 2-3 days in the fridge before you cook it into jam.
Yum! Reduced the sugar a bit and am skipping the water bath so I can just eat all of it immediately. Great flavors!
So glad you like it!
Is there any way the sugar can be cut in this recipe? With the sweet peaches and the addition of lemon juice, would it be possible to cut the sugar in half? Thanks!
Your answer is in this post: https://foodinjars.com/blog/canning-101-can-reduce-sugar/
I made this last year and it is wonderful! I plan to make a batch or 2 today with some gift peaches.
I made this twice. The first time I followed directions perfectly and it came out funny. Ah well, sauce. The second time I left the skins on and then I used an immersion blender on it. Seems much thicker. Loved the flavor!
Is there a recommended amount of lemon juice to use, since lemon sizes vary so much?
No need to reply again, missed the first response.
Add it to taste. It’s simply there to balance the flavor.
I love cardamom, so this is right up my alley, and I love that it uses the low-sugar pectin. I subbed almond extract for the vanilla and it came out quite tasty. I got 3 pints.
I do basically the same thing with mangos and it’s a big winner – especially with yogurt and Trader Joes ginger cashew granola. I’d image this would be just as yummy.
I love cardamom and can’t wait to try this recipe.
How much lemon juice is one lemon’s worth?
It’s typically 2-3 tablespoons worth.