Spiced Peaches and Pickled Peaches

TEN peach recipes are in Elizabeth Ellicott Lea’s Domestic Cookery (Baltimore, 1846) including Spiced Peaches and To Pickle Peaches.  The Spiced Peaches (left) are delightful, but they cook down, so do halves or quarters.

Past posts on peaches -- Peach Pickles (1774), Peach Houses and images of picking peaches HERE, a Peach Cobbler baked over the fire in a stewpan with a flaky crust HERE, and other peach recipes (including 1824 peach ice cream, peaches in brandy, spiced peaches) HERE

Spiced Peaches.

"Take nine pounds of good ripe peaches, rub them with a coarse towel, and halve them; put four pounds of sugar and a pint of good vinegar in your preserving kettle, with cloves, cinnamon and mace; when the syrup is formed, throw in the peaches, a few at a time, so as to keep them as whole as may be; when clear, take them out and put in more; boil the syrup till quite rich, and then pour it over the peaches. Cherries may be done in the same way."

To Pickle Cherries or Peaches.

"If peaches, wipe them well with a coarse towel; if cherries, cut the stems half off, but do not stone them; put them in jars, and to every half gallon of vinegar it takes to cover them, put a pound of sugar, and cloves and cinnamon to taste; boil and skim it well, and  when nearly cool pour it over the fruit; for three successive days pour off the vinegar, and boil and pour it on again.

Peaches.  [Pickled with no sugar]

Pick out sound clingstone peaches; lay them in salt and water for a day, then wipe them on a coarse cloth; boil up some strong vinegar, with a little ginger, whole pepper and mustard seed; put the peaches in a jar and pour this over."

Painting by Raphaelle Peale (1774-1825)  A basket of Peaches.

©2014 Patricia Bixler Reber
Researching Food History HOME