Gluten-Free Food,Kiwi Style

I am so lucky to have parents with fruit trees and it just so happened that this week a box of peaches arrived along with my mum and I didn’t even have to pick them!  Having never bottled peaches before (as I used to just rely on her to flick me some of the finished product) I was eager to get bottling.

Here is the basic recipe:

BOTTLED PEACHES

NB: 1 kg of sliced peaches makes just over 2 half sized preserving jars

1 kg ripe unblemished peaches

1 cup white sugar

3 cups water

preserving jars

seals and bands

Peel firm peaches with a potato feeler and softer peaches with a knife, before cutting slices off the stone. Weigh sliced fruit.  In a large preserving pan combine the desired amounts of sugar and water and bring to a gentle simmer. Carefully add peaches to the syrup and cook until just tender – this won’t take very long. Pack fruit into jars with a layer of syrup at the top.  Slip a long knife down the inside of the jar to release air bubbles and top up with syrup again. Place on a seal and screw the band in place before setting aside to cool.