Nectarine Butter smooth sweet taste. I received my delivery of Nectarines from Washington. We have to thank once again Sweet Preservation for making us a part of the Canbassador Program. The opportunity to share these great recipes and use their fruit is truly an honor.
Nectarine Butter was a tricky one there were many a recipe and they all are different and yes I did take two or three of the recipes and tweak them a bit. I thought about how delicious some Nectarine Butter would be with a touch of vanilla bean and brown sugar. Ok the thought of Vanilla Ice Cream went with that thought. Well I did not disappoint myself.
This is a simple recipe no peeling just chop add your ingredients and done. Like all butters it does take time to get the fruit to cook down plus you want it to be as smooth as possible. I did not use a food mill or food processor. I just mushed, cooked and mushed more. Well let us get started.
Ingredients -App. 6 half pints
7 cups of chopped nectarine
2 cups brown sugar
Diluted lemon juice for chopping
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla powder or "pure" vanilla extract
Diluted lemon water to coat to prevent browning.
Clean and chop your nectarines. Size is unimportant they will break down. Mine were cut in slices and smaller. Take your chopped/slcies nectarines pieces and put them into a large non-reactive pot.
Coat the nectarine pieces with a bit of the lemon water you used to keep your pieces fron browning.
You want enough liquid to get the cooking process going and prevent the nectarines from sticking to the bottom of your pot. About an 1/4 inch of liquid. Keep the flame on medium and turn the pieces to get them coated.
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| This is about 15 minutes into the process |
See the beautiful liquid that has been produced from the fruit itself. And it will get thicker as you continue the process. Fun right?
You should have enough liquid to after about 15 to 20 minutes of slow stirring on a low to medium flame.
Now it is time to smush you know I love my potato smasher tool-thing. Smush how ever you must. My way or use a food processor or a Food Mill. My whole thought process when making jam is to keep as much of the vitamins and flavor as possible. If it can be left in the jam and you get a mouth full of texture the better.
Let's start to add ingredients. Add you brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.
I make my own Vanilla Powder. I use the Vanilla Pods that I had in my Vanilla Extract. What I do is when the Vanilla Extract is ready I remove the extra pods scrape them and let the goop dry. I will also take the pods and put them into my pestle and grind what I can. Thus Vanilla Powder.
It should take you about a good hour or two to get this butter right. You can do the same test you would do with a regular jam. The cold spoon plate test.
Mine was so delicious an the texture was perfect. It looks a bit applesauce like and well I love texture.
Once all done wash your jars and store labeled and with no twist band.
Disclaimer: This is not an all inclusive recipe for making jam. You should have a basic knowledge and understanding of the canning process before proceeding. Please consult your local Center for Home Preservation for additional information and available classes.
