Ingredients
- 20 peaches, preferably freestone
- 1kg white sugar
- 500ml orange juice
- 1 vanilla bean
- 1 fresh bay leaf
- 1L water
Instructions
1 Bring the sugar, juice, vanilla, bay leaf and water to a boil for 2 minutes, then cover and set aside to cool completely.
2 Make a small cut in the base of each peach, then plunge them into rapidly boiling water for 20 seconds, before refreshing in iced water.
3 Slip the skin off, then split the peach along its seam and remove the seed.
4 Place the peaches into sterilised preserving jars, top up with the sugar syrup and fit the lids.
5 Place the jars into the large pot of cold water with an old towel on the base and bring slowly to a high simmer. Cover the pot and simmer for 1 hour, topping up the water in the pot as necessary.
6 Remove the jars from the pot and allow them to cool slowly.
PROFESSIONAL TIP: Preserving jars can be found at all good homewares stores, and more information on preserving is readily available online.