Once again we find ourselves overwhelmed by the number of peaches our one little tree managed to produce this year.
Of course, my mistake was not pruning it back at the end of the season last year and getting caught out by an unseasonably quick change in the spring season meant the poor girl didn't get her planned for "haircut". Needless to say, we ended up with 5 branches heavily laden with baby peaches this spring/summer. Great, right? Well, yes, but not so much. So much fruit means the tree has to work harder to ripen them, which means they take longer than usual. Plus the weight of the fruit really puts a strain on the tree. Two branches snapped completely under the weight, and two more a bent completely over, almost touching the ground.
I harvested the ones from the broken branches immediately. They were not ripe enough to eat but were perfect when used to make chutneys and preserves. I made some fab peach and habanero jelly, spicy peach hot sauce and yummy smoky peach BBQ sauce.
I waited patiently for the rest to ripen, sharing the haul with the local squirrels (there was plenty to go around believe me). While the peaches never really grew to their full size like last year, they were still deliciously sweet and juicy.
We filled jars with peach butter, peach marmalade, peach and plum chutney, and my personal favorite, peach gin - so simple to make and if you can get your hands on Elderflower Lemonade, such as great summer drink.
Here's how to make it. You will need:
2-3 large peaches (or enough to pack into a mason jar)
1 bottle of decent quality gin (doesn't need to be Hendricks or Bombay Sapphire but try to get the best you can afford)
Here's what you do:
Halve the peaches and remove the pit. Cut up each half into slices and pack into a mason jar. Make sure to pack them quite densely, you want plenty of flavor. Pour the bottle of gin over the peach slices. Seal the jar tightly and give it a gentle shake.
Store in a cool, dark place, gently turning the jar upside down a couple of times on a daily basis. After two weeks, strain the now peachy pink gin back into the bottle using a coffee filter and a funnel - or if you don't mind some bits and want a quicker way, use a tea strainer and a funnel instead.
It's delicious served with ice and tonic, or ginger ale but my absolute favorite is with elderflower lemonade. It is so refreshing, just perfect for a hot summer evening!
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