Honey Vanilla Peach Butter

My kids love various butters we can make from fruit. We have done apple butter from time to time and peach butter. I'm not always convinced it's worth all the effort, but they love it so I make it sometimes. This one is a favorite!

 

Honey Vanilla Peach Butter

18 peaches, smashed up

2 1/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. honey

1 Tbsp. vanilla

In a large pot cook the peaches, sugar, honey, and vanilla until the peaches are soft. Use a blender to blend in batches until smooth. You can use a hand blender for this if you have one. At this point you can cook the peaches two ways. Option 1: Continue to cook on the stove until the water is boiled out and the peaches mound on a spoon. This will likely take hours. Option 2: As you blend the peaches in batches, pour the blended peaches into a crock pot and cook on low overnight with the lid off. They should be ready to can by morning. Once the peaches are as thick as you want them to be, ladle into canning jars and process 20 minutes in a water bath canner.

Peach Jam

Some more jam we've been working on. The boys had a bit of a disappointment this morning, but trying out all the peach recipes we are canning helped to perk them up again. We love our canning recipes!

 

Peach Jam

4 c. peaches, smashed up or cut into small chunks

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. butter

1 box Sure Jell

5 1/2 c. sugar

Place peaches, lemon juice, butter, and Sure Jell in a large pot and heat to boiling.  Add the sugar all at once and return to a rolling boil. Boil 1 minute. Put in prepared canning jars and process 20 minutes in a water bath canner.

Blueberry Jam

Nothing is better than fresh jam made from fresh fruit. We all love blueberries, too! So good!

 

Blueberry Jam

6 c. blueberries

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

4 c. sugar

1 box Sure Jell

1 tsp. butter

Crush the blueberries making sure there are still chucks of berry. Measure to get 4 cups of crushed fruit. Add to a large saucepan with the lemon juice, butter, and Sure Jell. Heat over medium high, stirring constantly, until boiling. Add is sugar all at once. Continue to stir and return to a rolling boil. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat and ladle into jars, leaving 1/4 inch at the top. Process 15 minutes.

Boston Cream Cupcakes

My son wanted to learn some basic cake decorating so he made cupcakes to begin to learn on. Well, we can't make just ANY cupcake, so we made some Boston Cream Cupcakes! Yum! He decided that custard isn't his thing, so if he makes these again we'll have to switch it for some pudding or something, but I thought they tasted great! Especially since an 11 year old made them pretty much on his own.

 

Boston Cream Cupcakes

Cake:

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cups sugar
6 Tbsp. sour cream, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla
3 large egg whites, room temperature (don't throw away the yolks!)
1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. milk, room temperature
2 Tbsp. water, room temperature

Cream the butter and sugar together until they are light and fluffy. This should take a couple of minutes. Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix. Add the egg white and mix well to combine. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl and the beaters to get everything mixed in well. Add half the four and baking powder, then half the milk and water, mixing well after each addition. Repeat to use all ingredients. Fill cupcake liners 1/2-2/3 full (we get 15 from this recipe). Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the are beginning to turn golden brown on the top and the top springs back when touched. Allow to cool.

 

Custard:

2 egg yolks saved from cake
6 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. salted butter
1 tsp. vanilla

In a small bowl, beat the yolks together. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and milk in a large saucepan and stir until smooth. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to thicken and just begins to boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook an additional two minutes. Remove from the heat. Add a small amount to the yolks and stir to combine. Once well combined, all the yolk mixture to the custard, return it to the heat, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil two minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. 

 

 

Frosting:

3 Tbsp. butter, room temperature

2 c. powdered sugar

1/3 c. cocoa powder

2-3 Tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, vanilla, and 1 Tbsp milk. Stir to combine. Add additional milk slowly until the desired consistency is reached. Frost cupcakes as desired. 

 

 

To put the cupcakes together: core the cupcakes with a cupcake corer or a sharp knife.Pipe custard into each cupcake. Top with frosting. 

Hawaiian Punch Jelly

My mom canned when I was young. I remember picking fruit in the house at 510 Main Street in Clearfield, Utah (which has since been torn down) that belonged to my great-grandparents, built by my great-grandpa, I believe. I remember the cherries the most - mostly because I had to help pit them with this cool pitter thing my parents bought. You loaded cherries in one part, then slide down, you pushed the handle, and out came the pit! So cool to an 8 year old! I remember my mom canning all the fruit and making jam. My most vivid memory is of one day when she ran out of sugar and sent me across the street to the grocery store to get her some more. Well, it was a big, busy street and I was scared to death to cross it. I must have, but I really only remember being scared to cross the street.

When I was in high school I used to go to my friend Mary's house to hang out and her mom made jam. But she didn't just make jam and put it in canning jars - she did cool things to it. Like put it in wine glasses and cover it with whipped parafin wax with a straw so it looked cool. I never put it in anything besides canning jars myself, but she made canning seem cool to me and this is a recipe I got from her. Thanks Connie Beals! My family has declared this jelly to be the best jelly ever.

 

Hawaiian Punch Jelly

3 1/2 c. Hawaiian Punch

6 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 box Sure Jell

1 tsp. butter

6 1/2 c. sugar

In a large pot, heat the punch, lemon juice, Sure Jell, and butter. Cook to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add the sugar all at once and begin stirring again. Heat again to a rolling boil, boil one minute. Remove from heat and ladle into prepared jars. Process jam for 15 minutes. Enjoy! Makes about 7 cups of jelly.