Peach Butter – A Jar of Southern Indiana Luxury

Imbued with the honeyed tones of early autumn, Peach Butter is luxuriously sweet while preserving the tangy savor of summer’s glory days.

Indiana in the Late 1800’s

When my grandmother shared stories about her extended family she often spoke fondly of Uncle Hal. He was her father’s brother, my second great uncle. As a young man, Hal moved away from his home and family in Indiana. In time Hal bought a farm in Minnesota and raised his family there. Though they lived far apart my grandmother had a wonderful time on the occasions she visited Uncle Hal and his family and she thought the world of him.

In later years, Uncle Hal wrote about his life at the request of his daughters. He also shared a copy with his niece, my grandmother. Visiting her home as I grew up, Mammaw made it clear that she treasured that gift and she encouraged me to read it. Addressed to “My Dear Girls” and bound in a blue loose-leaf notebook, Uncle Hal’s Memoirs consisted of one hundred and sixty two carefully written pages in his own pleasant longhand.

The introduction to Uncle Hal’s Memoirs speaks of his reluctance to write. “I never considered your requests seriously,” he wrote, “for the simple reason that my entire life has been so colorless, so uneventful and uninteresting that to write about it has always seemed to me not in the least worthwhile.” Nonetheless, at the age of seventy he relented and produced a marvelous narrative including vivid descriptions of his boyhood in Southern Indiana in the late 1800’s.

Making Peach Butter the Old Fashioned Way

Uncle Hal’s Memoirs offer a beautiful portrait of the landscapes and seasons of his childhood home. Some of my favorite passages are about preserving the harvest. Here he describes the process of making Peach Butter when he was a boy:

In Indiana spring was a season of beauty.  Apple, peach, plum and cherry trees all bloomed in the month of May.  So did the wild blackberries and the dogwoods and redbuds, and other flowering trees and shrubs.  The countryside was a sight to behold and in the quiet of the evening the fragrance of the blossoms filled the air.  Some years a late frost would kill the budding fruit and that, when it happened, was a catastrophe.  The fruit crop provided the one luxury that we enjoyed in abundance the year round and when it failed it meant doing without for a whole year.

The fruit season began with blackberries and that meant days of picking for Mother, Clinton and me, and canning for Mother.  Father picked berries too when he was at home.  Mother wanted a hundred quarts of berries canned and plenty of jelly.

Next on the agenda was the peach harvest. After Mother had enough peaches in cans we made peach butter.  You girls might call it peach jam.  Long hours were required to peel and slice enough peaches to fill the thirty gallon copper kettle.  The cooking was done over a wood fire in the back yard.  The fire was started at sun-up or earlier, with the kettle in place.  The peaches were put in and one of us started stirring as soon as the kettle began to heat. 

Water was added to start the boiling process.  As the contents of the kettle boiled down more fruit was added at intervals but the stirring never ceased; if it did the butter would stick to the bottom of the kettle and burn.  The stirring was done with a wooden paddle about two feet long, attached to the end of an eight foot long handle which allowed the person stirring to stand a comfortable distance from the fire.  The job required nearly the whole day but it was a wonderfully exciting day’s work that paid off in satisfaction until the next peach harvest.

From Uncle Hal’s Memoirs ~ circa 1898

Peach Butter on the Stove Top

These days, I don’t often take the time to make jams, jellies or other fruit preserves. I do, however, enjoy making fruit butter at harvest time. Working with the luscious ripe fruit brings Uncle Hal to mind. I think of his delight in the luxurious harvest and his enjoyment in helping his family to preserve it. When the fruit begins to simmer and its delicious fragrance permeates my kitchen I am struck by the healing force of gratitude and I can’t help but smile.

A few years ago, after rereading Uncle Hal’s memories of the apple harvest season, I learned how to make Homemade Apple Butter. Uncle Hal’s description of working with his family to make Peach Butter is equally inspiring. His words make me want to experience the same joy in preserving the peach harvest while fresh peaches are still in season.

Right now, I have a box of lusciously ripe peaches in the kitchen. Having no place to build an open fire and no thirty gallon copper kettle at hand, I once again had to look beyond Uncle Hal’s Memoir for a workable recipe. A quick internet search helped me find a recipe that sounded just right.

Following the recipe I peeled, pitted and mashed several pounds of peaches. After adding lemon juice, sugar and a few drops of almond extract I brought the peaches to a boil on the stovetop. Much like Uncle Hal described, but on a much smaller scale, the next step was a long one. At a setting to keep the peaches just barely boiling I stirred the mixture frequently for over an hour, making sure the Peach Butter did not scorch or stick to the bottom of the pan. Gradually the sauce thickened and reduced.

When Is Peach Butter Ready?

After about an hour and 15 minutes I tested the sauce by dropping a spoonful onto a cool saucer. It sat there as specified, without any watery liquid gathering around the edge. Having passed the saucer test, I removed my Peach Butter from the stovetop. When slightly cooled I used my stick blender to process the mixture until smooth. Then I stored it in clean Mason jars.

The finished butter is the color of early autumn. It shines through the clear glass jelly jar in gently russeted tones of golden orange. The taste is agreeably sweet while still clinging to the tangy assertiveness of summer’s glory days. The almond flavoring gives it a depth of character that suggests lessons learned. It offers an earthy note of bittersweet, and the promise of seasons yet to come.

How Long Will Peach Butter Keep?

Stored in clean glass jars, Peach Butter will keep for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator. If you don’t think you will use it all in that amount of time, store it in smaller containers and put some away in the freezer. Frozen, the Peach Butter will keep for several months.

Serving Suggestions

Uncle Hal offered a delightfully vivid account of making Peach Butter. He was less specific, however, in the particular ways he enjoyed eating it. As I don’t often indulge in fruit jams and preserves it took me a while to discover the many ways it adds a sweet taste of summer to the comfort foods of fall. Here’s a few I came up with:

• Peach Butter is a delicious topping for a slice of golden toast. With sourdough making a resurgence in my kitchen, I toasted a slice of freshly baked Sourdough Bread as a lovely base for this pretty fruit spread.
• Use Peach Butter for a pancake filling or topping. Slather it on fresh Swedish Pancakes before folding and topping with powdered sugar and lemon. Or use it to top a stack of Overnight Pancakes before adding a drizzle of maple syrup. It is also good on waffles.
• Stir a spoonful into a cup of yogurt, or a bowl of oatmeal, to add the taste of summer to a nutritious weekday breakfast.
• Better yet – Spread it on Uncle Hal’s Biscuits. A split biscuit, or piece of biscuit bread, is the perfect vehicle for enjoying this tribute to Uncle Hal’s descriptive flair.