Nectarine Butter

Ellie over at Kitchen Wench posted this recipe nearly a month ago, and when I saw it I thought "oh yeah, I gotta try that". Last weekend at work I saw boxes of nectarines going for the princely sum of just $5. Yes, that's right $5. I have no idea how many kilo's were in there, but I gave a big bag to dad's lady, another bag to Mel, and still had plenty left over to do up a batch of this butter (with still more!!!! Arg!!!)

Now, I've never made a preserve in my life. Ever. So this was going to be one hell of an experience.

I don't have a food mill, so I was reduced to pummeling the fruit through a sieve. After a ladle-full or two I got VERY tired of this, so instead cheated a little and put the chunks of fruit through my (manual) food processor for a short burst first, then pushed them through the sieve. MUCH better.


You'll notice my mix is rather more pink than Ellie's - this is because I was using white-flesh nectarines instead of yellow. Also, in my experience, the white flesh nectarines are much sweeter than their yellow cousins, so I reduced the amount of sugar to only 1.5 cups, and could probably still have used less.

The warning on how much the mix spits was one I was thankful to get, and speedy to heed once the mix got bubbling.


The final product. I almost had the French worked out for the label, but just couldn't quite stretch the old memory that far. Gee I love Babelfish :-)

Of course I was taste-testing throughout the process, but wasn't too sure if the final product was really any good. Thankfully Mel reported it was good on toast!

Next preserve I'm gonna try making is Banana Jam...