Hot Peach Habanero Jelly
At a Christmas Market this winter, I came across a hot pepper I had never encountered before, a peach habanero pepper. It had the taste and colour of a peach but the look and heat of a habanero pepper. I knew right away that I had to buy a few and make a batch of hot peach habanero jelly. The flavour of the jelly is both hot and peachy sweet. The colour of the jelly has a beautiful peachy glow. I placed it on a snack tray at Christmas with crackers and cheese. It was a wonderful addition. I especially like it on a cracker with a little cracked pepper cream cheese.
Hot Peach Habanero Jelly
Yield 8 – 250mL jars
Ingredients
1 cup home canned drained peaches (keep the liquid)
4 or 5 peach habaneros (enough to make ¼ cup finely chopped)
1 cup reserved liquid from canned peaches
2 tbsp lemon juice
6 cups sugar
4 cups apple orange peach juice
1 package original pectin
¼ tsp butter or margarine
Directions
Place water in boiling water canner. Heat to a simmer. Place 8 clean, warm 250 ml mason jars on a rack in canner. Cover with simmering water. Place SNAP LIDS® in a bowl full of warm water. Keep both jars and lids warm until ready to use.
Open a jar of home canned peaches and measure out 1 cup of fruit and 1 cup of liquid. Using food processor with a bowl attachment and multi-purpose blade, add peaches, liquid and habaneros. Pulse until the fruit and habaneros are minced.
Measure out the sugar and set aside.
Transfer minced fruit and habanero mixture to a large, thick bottomed non-reactive saucepan. Add pectin, apple orange peach juice, lemon juice and butter. Stir until the pectin is dissolved.
On high heat, bring the mixture to a full rolling boil.
Add all sugar at once. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture back to a full rolling boil. Boil one minute. Remove from heat. Fill jars one at a time, leaving ¼ inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim. Place SNAP LID® and screw band on jar. Tighten until fingertip tight. Place in canner on rack. Repeat until all jars are full.
Add enough hot water to the canner to ensure jars are covered by 1 inch of water. Place lid on canner. Bring to a full rolling boil. Boil 10 minutes (adjusting for altitude). Turn off heat. Remove lid and wait 5 minutes. Remove jars with a jar lifter, without tilting, to a protected countertop.
Cool upright 24 hours. After cool, check that the jars are sealed. Sealed jar lids curve downward. Clean, dry and label with contents and date.
TIP: Never place hot jars directly on the countertop. Hot glass touching a cool countertop could cause the jar to shatter. Use a tea towel or pieces of newspaper to cover the counter and to place the jars on.
TIP: Only prepare one batch of jam or jelly at a time. Doubling the recipe could cause failure.
TIP: Although common practice 30 years ago, pouring melted wax over the jam in the jar is no longer considered an acceptable way to seal jars.
*Altitude adjustment for boiling water method
Altitude in feet Increase processing time by
1001 to 3000 5 minutes
3001 to 6000 10 minutes
6001 to 8000 15 minutes
8001 to 10000 20 minutes
