Salted Caramel Peach Sauce (to Can)

Made from our first crop of our very own home-grown peaches! Last year, of course.

We really enjoyed this over Yogurt Panna Cotta,  It would be delicious too on ice cream, vanilla pudding, rice pudding, bread pudding... all kinds of dessert applications. Just plain yogurt, for that matter.

Tasted plain, I thought this was awfully salty. As a sauce with other things it was not too much. I used the larger amount of salt. Depending how you use it, the smaller amount of salt might be better. Or make 2 batches, since this is a pretty amazing sauce. With less salt I might even be tempted just to put it on toast over cream cheese.

You don't have to can it either, if you don't want to. Just put it in really clean jars and keep it in the fridge. You had better use it up within a couple of weeks in that case though.

3 x 250ml
1 hour 30 minutes - 1 hour prep time

1 kg (2.2 pounds) fresh freestone peaches
1 cup sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup juice from the peaches
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons pickling salt

Put a large pot of water on to boil, and blanch the peaches in 3 or 4 batches for 1 minute at a time; remove them to a basin of cold water. When they are cool, peel them, pit them, and dice them fairly finely.  Cover them and set them aside in a cool spot.

Put the canning jars into a canner with water to cover them by at least an inch. Bring them to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Have the lids ready in another pot of water, to be turned on and boiled for 1 minute when needed.

Meanwhile, put the sugar and any juice you can drain from the peaches into a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add the cream of tartar and stir gently until all the sugar is moistened.

Heat the sugar to a boil, and boil steadily for 10 to 15 minutes, until caramelized. Watch it very carefully towards the end. Do not stir. As soon as it is a nice, not too dark, brown, immediately add the diced peaches and any juice with them. Do this very carefully as syrup easily spatters and the burns are nasty. Add the salt and stir well.

Let the peaches simmer for another 15 minutes, stirring regularly. The caramel may form a sticky mass, including on the spoon, but don't worry. It will dissolve as you stir and cook.

When the peaches have cooked for their 15 minutes, and the jars are ready, turn on the heat under the lids. Set the jars on a board to be filled. Transfer the sauce to a blender, and blend until fairly smooth. Pour it out into the jars. Wipe the rims with a piece of paper towel dipped in boiling water, and put on the prepared rings and lids, tightened just firmly. Return the jars to the boiling water in the canner and boil for 10 minutes.

Remove them from the boiling water bath and let cool. Check the seals and label. Can be kept in a cool, dark spot for up to a year.





Last year at this time I made Deconstructed Pesto Chicken Salad.

Posted in: Ontario Food