Adapted from Ideals Family Cookbook · Mrs. Chester A. Cramer
Spiced Peaches
Ingredients
- 6 cups sugar
- 1 pint (2 cups) cider vinegar
- 1 pint (2 cups) water
- Peaches, peeled, enough to fill approximately 6 quart jars (original fruit weight not specified)
- Per jar: 3 whole cloves
- Per jar: 3 small cinnamon sticks
Directions
- Combine the sugar, cider vinegar and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 20 minutes, as the original recipe instructs.
- Add peeled peaches to the hot syrup and cook until tender, without letting the fruit fall apart.
- Place three whole cloves and three small cinnamon sticks in each prepared jar. Fill the jars with peaches, then cover with hot syrup.
- Historical cookbook instruction: Seal the jars and process for 20 minutes in a hot-water-bath canner. The original states that the recipe makes approximately 6 quarts, but does not specify peach weight, jar headspace, vinegar acidity, altitude adjustments or other details required to validate this as a modern shelf-stable canning process.
- For a current shelf-stable batch: Use a tested spiced-peach canning recipe with its specified fruit quantity, acid concentration, jar size, headspace, and altitude-adjusted processing procedure rather than assuming the historical 20-minute instruction is sufficient. Alternatively, refrigerate prepared peaches in their syrup promptly for short-term use.
Original cookbook source
“Spice Peaches,” contributed by Mrs. Chester A. Cramer to the Ideals Family Cookbook. The original uses six cups sugar, one pint cider vinegar and one pint water, boiled together twenty minutes. Peeled fruit is added and cooked until tender. Each jar receives three whole cloves and three small cinnamon sticks, followed by fruit and syrup. The recipe states a yield of six quarts and directs a twenty-minute hot-water-bath process.
Other fruit variations
Mrs. Cramer notes that the same spicing idea can be used for pears, watermelon rind, apricots and pineapple. These variations may require different tested preservation formulas and processing schedules; do not automatically apply the peach procedure to other produce.
Kitchen use
The original contributor recommends saving the flavorful spiced-fruit juice to season ham or pork. The sweet-tart syrup can also be used as a glaze component.
Canning note
The source describes a historical processing method, not a fully specified modern tested canning recipe. For pantry storage, match the chosen fruit to a current validated canning procedure. The fruit quantity and precise headspace are absent from the original, and processing must account for altitude.