It was a great summer for peaches in the Portland area. I kept picking or buying 20 or 30 at a time (or 54!), and wondering how I was going to get through them all, and then before I knew it, they’d be gone!
We enjoyed peach cobbler, peach dutch baby, fresh juicy peaches eaten out of hand, and of course, my favorite way to preserve them is in a peach compote. Peaches go so well with warm spices like cinnamon and cardamom, and their juiciness makes them a great candidate for a saucy compote to spoon over waffles, ice cream, yogurt, and so on.
(Yield: 2 or 3 pint jars)
Ingredients:
- 3 pounds of peeled peaches
- 1 – 2 cups of brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Steps:
- Slice the peeled peaches into eighths and then halve or third each slice, so that you have roughly one inch chunks. Add the peaches to a heavy-bottomed large pot, along with the sugar and spices. You can adjust the sugar according to taste.
- Bring the peaches to a simmer over medium heat and stir occasionally. Continue cooking until the juices start to thicken somewhat, but don’t let it cook so long that it becomes jam! Total cooking time will be between 20 and 30 mins.
- While the peaches are cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil, and wash your jars, lids, and rings.
- Spoon the fruit into the washed jars leaving about a 1/4 inch of headspace. Then attach lids and rings and place filled jars into pot of boiling water. Make sure tops of jars are covered by water.
- Process the jars for 5 mins. and remove from the pot and cool on a rack.
Cardamom & Creme 