White Nectarine Jam

I was walking home from work recently when I passed a fruit stand that was just overflowing with baskets of beautiful nectarines. At first they caught my eye… then they caught my nose. They looked gorgeously ripe, and perfumed the warm summer with their sweet scent. If you’ve ever smelled a ripe nectarine you know what I’m talking about. It’s almost floral, in a way, but just utterly spectacular.

So naturally I picked up four pounds of picture-perfect nectarines and continued home to begin canning. What made me even more excited is the fabulous dutch oven I got from a neighbor friend a few weeks back. It looks like it’s from the 60s (which it very well may be). It’s a beautiful yellow in color, heavy, and oh so charming. This was the first time I used it (as well as the first time I used a dutch oven to make jam), so I was excited to see how it would turn out. I’m happy to say the results were awesome! It keeps a much more even heat throughout cooking, and I found that my jam set quicker than in my usual jamming pot. Yay for new, free jam pots!

One thing I did, that I didn’t realize at first, was that instead of buying orange nectarines I actually got white ones. You can really use either or, but I think for next time I’m going to go with a mix of orange and white. I think the color will look gorgeous. If you are new to jamming, this is a great beginner recipe because the skin of the nectarine contains a good amount of pectin, helping the jam to set much easier. It’s very similar to plum jam in the sense that it’s basically ‘simmer until done.’ The flavor is wonderful on its own, but it can also be beefed up with some vanilla bean if you have any on hand. I didn’t so I skipped it. Nectarine jam is also easy because unlike its cousin fruit, the peach, no peeling is necessary (which, if you’ve ever made peach jam or butter, you know how tedious all that peeling can get).

I made a bunch of jars and brought them to the craft market to sell last weekend. I’m happy to say it was one of the many jams I received a number of compliments for throughout the week.

White Nectarine Jam
Makes 6 half pint jars

What You’ll Need:

4 lbs nectarines, pitted and chopped
1 1/2 C. Sugar
3 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

Place all ingredients in a preserving pot and slowly bring to a simmer—it helps to do this slowly, so all those fabulous juices come pouring out. Once simmering, set a timer for 25 minutes, and keep at a simmer while stirring constantly. Test your jam on a cold plate in the freezer until set.

Ladle into sterilized jars and process for 5 minutes. Remove from the water bath canner, and let rest on the counter for 12 hours.

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