Peach Melba jam

Squirrel away a few jars of this gorgeous peach and raspberry preserve for when you crave a spoonful of sunshine on a rainy day

Prep:30 mins
Cook:20 mins
plus overnight soaking and cooling

Easy

Nutrition per serving

kcal 43
fat 0g
saturates 0g
carbs 10g
sugars 10g
fibre 0g
protein 0g
salt 0g

Ingredients

500g raspberries
500g peaches, halved and stoned, then diced into similar sizes to the raspberries
800g jam sugar
juice 1 lemon
fingertip-sized knob of butter (optional)

Tip

Sterilising jars

Wash your jars thoroughly in hot soapy water, rinse and leave to drip dry. Place in an oven at 160C/140C fan/gas 3 for 10 minutes. Fill jars while warm.

Method

The night before you make your jam, layer the berries, peaches and sugar in a very large bowl. Cover and set aside at room temperature.
The next morning, give everything a good stir and set aside again until you’re ready to start cooking. Put a small saucer in the freezer.
Tip the raspberries and peaches, scraping out all the juices and any undissolved sugar, into a preserving pan (or use a large, wide-based pan – the wider and more open the pan, the faster the jam will be ready without the fruit cooking to mush). Stir in the lemon juice and cook over a very low heat until any remaining sugar is dissolved.
Bring the mixture to the boil, then simmer for 5 mins. Turn off the heat and spoon a little of the hot jam onto the chilled saucer. Once cooled, push the jam with your finger – if it wrinkles a little, it has reached setting point. If it’s still too runny to wrinkle, return the pan to the heat and boil in 2-min stages, removing the pan from the heat each time you repeat the saucer test, until ready.
Skim off any scum, then stir in the butter, if using, to dissolve any remaining scum. Leave for 15 mins, then ladle into sterilised jars (see below). Will keep for up to 6 months in a cool, dark place.