Peach Honey

I read long ago about making something called Peach Honey from the peels of Peaches. And so since I can peaches each yr cuz they are my most favorite fruit, I saved the peels in the freezer till I had time to do something with them. Im glad I did. I'm still not sure what Ill use this on but its tasty. Would be nice on pancakes or waffles or used on ice cream or cakes. It does taste rather honey-like and it does taste of peaches too.

I compared some honey to this and honey does have a more distinctive taste but that could be the honey I use too. I buy a Blackberry honey from a local guy. But this is very similar and the texture if you reduce it down enough is just like it too. So I could see me doing this more often and with other fruit. I bet others would taste yummy too. However it does use sugar and if you dont use it.....you wont be able to make this. Its the reduction of the sugar with the liquid that makes that syrup consistency. (I read that you could use honey too but you would need quite a few cups of it so that makes it quite pricey for people to make.)  Im not sure that it would work with anything else. But then this is a treat, not something you would use all the time so I figured some sugar wont hurt me.

There's not many ingredients and not much work. The hardest part is straining the juices.

Peach Honey (amount depends on how much juice you get) 
Peach peelings saved from lots of peaches (I had about two cases worth of peaches these were saved from)
Water to cover the peelings + plus more to keep it covered if it starts to evaporate.
Sugar...half as much sugar as fruit juice.

Put peach peelings in a large pot and cover with water. You want them to cook awhile till they are very soft and the water has flavor. I tasted it as I cooked it. It wont taste great but it will taste peachy. I wanted to extract as much peach flavor as possible so I let it simmer till it reached a flavor I liked.

Don't be disappointed by what you taste, the sugar will improve it. In fact what I did was take a tiny bit of juice in a spoon and put a little bit of sugar in that same spoon and mixed it, then tasted it. It helped me decide when it had enough peach flavor and when it was ready. ...maybe an hr or so. 

Strain the juices. First I strained all the lg. pieces out so there was only cloudy juice left. Then I strained it again in a strainer lined with coffee filters. This might take some time. I wanted as clear of a juice as I could get. But you do need some bits it in so dont think your making it like a jelly. Its ok to squeeze and push it thru. The tiny bits are what help it be more like honey and hold the syrup consistency. 

Once its gone thru the final straining, measure it as you put it in a lg. pot to reduce. Put in half the amt. of sugar as juice. For instance, I had 5 c. of juice after straining so I added 2 1/2c. sugar to it. Bring to a boil and stir well till sugar is dissolved. Then let it go to a rolling simmer till it reaches the thickness of syrup that you need. I took some out on a spoon and put it in the freezer to get cold. Then I checked the thickness on the spoon. 


The more juice you have of course the longer it will take to reduce. Watch it tho because you dont want it to burn. Sometimes as it reduces it starts to really foam up so lower the heat a bit then. But really its not hard.

When its the thickness you want, can it in some small jars and seal. Water bath for 10min. if you want. I didn't . I did an old fashioned way of turning the sealed jars upside down for 15min. or so then righting them again. The heat seems to seal them and I hear the tops pinging as it does. Some say this isn't good to do tho so which process you use is up to you. I feel there is enough sugar in there to preserve it but if your unsure.....then water bath it.