Peach raspberry jam: summer fruit in soft, spreadable form that is perfect to put on just about anything. If you’ve been looking for a great way to use up some of summer’s best, this recipe is a great option – and so easy to make!

Making memories with jam

I remember visiting my Oma (my mom’s mom) when I was a kid, and she always seemed to have lots of homemade jam on hand. Every time we’d visit, we’d get to reap the benefits of her delicious homemade bread or rolls, slathered with a generous helping of whatever delicious jam she had made the previous summer.

Jam for me holds a lot of memories. It’s so simple and seems like just a “regular part of life” – But when you make things at home, and you serve them well, even the smallest things in life can hold some of the sweetest memories.

How to make peach raspberry jam

Making jam is a very simple process. To make this peach raspberry jam, here are the basic steps:

1. Prepare the fruit
   This step is as it seems – Wash the fruit, and peel, pit, and chop the peaches.
2. Cook the fruit with pectin
   Once the fruit has been prepared, you will put it into a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring it to a boil with pectin and lemon juice (to offset the sweetness of the fruit). This gets cooked until the fruit is broken down and very soft.
3. Cook the fruit mixture with sugar
   At the end, once the fruit is properly broken down, the sugar gets added and cooked until dissolved and has had enough time to bond with the pectin.
4. Check for thickness
   Once the jam has been cooked, it will still appear very watery/thin. To test if the jam is done, you can spoon a little bit onto a plate and put it into the freezer to cool quickly. Once the jam has been allowed to set in the freezer for a few minutes, check it to see if it has begun to thicken. If not, continue cooking for another minute and test it again. If yes, you can proceed to the next step.
5. Ladle into prepared jars or containers for canning
   Prepare your jars for canning by my basic canning method. Ladle the jam into jars, and allow them to seal!

It’s that simple!

What is pectin?

Pectin is a naturally occurring thickener and stabilizer found in fruit and some vegetables. You can purchase pectin in liquid or crystal form as an isolated agent, and it is commonly used to make homemade jams become thick and stable.

Some jams are made without any pectin at all, since those particular ones can be thickened with just the pectin in the fruit itself (such as cranberry or apple).

Can you make raspberry peach jam with gelatine?

I have seen some jam recipes with gelatine, but since gelatine is an animal product with a different affect than pectin, it is not a typical way to thicken jam. Gelatine also sets more like jello, which doesn’t make it as nice for spreading as jams thickened with pectin.

If you wanted to try adding gelatine to your jam instead of pectin, I would add 1 tsp per 2 cups of fruit in your recipe. Since I haven’t tried this myself, I cannot guarantee the results.

Is it possible to make jam with cornstarch?

Technically fruit thickened with cornstarch would be called a sauce or pie filling, not a jam. However, you can absolutely use a fruit sauce as jam if you want to! Also, a little bonus: if you make a fruit sauce this way, you will not need as much sugar to bind with the pectin in order for the sauce to thicken.

The downside to making a cornstarch thickened sauce in place of jam is that it will separate over time. Also, due to the lower sugar content, it will spoil more quickly.

If you want to try it out, here are some delicious fruit sauces thickened with cornstarch:

• Raspberry Sauce
• Strawberry Sauce
• Rhubarb Sauce
• Blueberry Pie Filling
• Apple Pie Filling

The freezer test: how to make sure your jam gets nice and thick

The best way to check that you jam is getting nice and thick is to use the freezer test. Drop a little bit of jam onto a plate and put it into the freezer. If, after 5 minutes in the freezer, the jam has “gelled” and it is thicker than before, then you’ve got a successful batch of well thickened jam! If not, you will want to continue cooking the jam on high heat until it passes the freezer test successfully.

Making jam with less sugar

Sugar is necessary in jam in order that the pectin can bind with the sugar and create that beautiful thick texture. It also acts as a preservative, making the jam resistant to spoilage and able to last for a longer period of time.

Most jam recipes are made with an equal amount of fruit of sugar, or even sometimes more sugar than fruit! I can’t bear to do that, however, so I always make my jams with 1/2 the amount of sugar as I use fruit. With this ratio, I sometimes end up with a slightly runnier jam in the end, but in my opinion – it’s worth it for that real fruity taste.

Keeping beautiful colour in homemade jams

Oma always said that the best way to keep that bright, beautiful colour in jam was to make sure that you don’t cook it for too long after adding the sugar.

The reason for this is that the sugar caramelizes after cooking for a long time, creating a golden/amber hue which would darken your jam (and perhaps cause it to burn on the bottom of your pan). To avoid this, just cook your jam long enough for it to pass the freezer test.

How to preserve jam – the easy way!

This recipe can be canned (as outline in the recipe below, or using my basic canning method), or you can actually just throw it into small sealed containers and put those into the freezer. My Oma often kept her jam that way (even though she did can many things); honestly, it’s one of the simplest ways to go.

You will need:

• Ingredients (see recipe card)
• Colander
• Peeler (optional)
• Chef’s knife (optional)
• Paring knife
• Cutting board
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Glass measuring pitcher
• Large heavy bottomed saucepan
• Immersion blender (optional)
• Jars, for canning (optional) or freezer safe containers
• Canning supplies (optional)

If you like this recipe, you may also like:

• Tart Apple Butter
• Strawberry Orange Marmalade
• Easy French Bread
• Light and Flaky Scones

I hope you enjoy this recipe! It’s a great way to put those seasonal summer fruits to great use.

Thanks for stopping in, and I’ll be back soon!

–Naomi

This post contains affiliate links.