Simple, peachy, subtly spiced compote with a touch of caramel-bourbon. This versatile compote is perfect as a cake filling, a jam on scones or muffins, or even paired with a savory dish.

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The story

It’s spring break! So far I’m living it up by going for walks and baking bread. Today I even got a little wild and tried running for part of my walk. A full 1.5 miles. It’s been a few years since I’ve gone running, and I don’t have a jogging stroller, so I call it a win. And as much as I genuinely despise running, I know it’s good for me.

Plus, it burns enough calories to let me eat all the things I’m baking these days. At least I hope it does…

Luckily, I’m trying to find ways to incorporate healthy ingredients into my baking to avoid a full on quarantine fifteen. Partly because I have frozen fruit I want to use up, but also for health. That’s where this recipe comes from. I’ve been brainstorming for a while about how to use the farmers market peaches I froze a few months ago. I had grand ideas about making a peach cake with peach filling and painting it to match this rustic peach tablecloth I saw at the very same farmers market.

Then, quarantine. Doing a painted cake feels pointless for two adults and a toddler. Instead, I opted for a semi-naked cake. Less frosting, fewer calories, fewer ingredients.

Plus, it gave me a chance to highlight this compote.

Side note: I’ve toyed with calling this a compote or jam or something else, like a filling or purée. That led me down the rabbit hole of jam vs. compote vs. all the other things. And, strictly speaking, this is a cross between a jam and a compote. It uses water or bourbon as well as fresh ginger, all compote methods. But the fruit is cooked down and thickened, which are jam methods. Sooo…I went with the name I felt sounded best?

I feel that peach is usually boring in desserts. Pie or cobbler. Maybe some cinnamon. Usually a taste that reminds me of buffet dessert or baby food. Not to hate on your grandma’s blue ribbon peach pie. I bet that rocks. I’ve just never had a peach dessert that was as good as your grandma’s. My grandma made ambrosia and carrot cake.

I decided to try fresh ginger because we had some leftover. And bourbon because why not? Nancy Fuller on Duff Goldman’s Baking Championship always loves it in dessert, so I might as well try it. That all naturally led to using brown sugar to sweeten this, because a brown sugar bourbon dessert is always a good idea. So…in case you cared, that’s why I made this compote.

And it’s good. It’s peachy, with subtle notes of ginger and bourbon. The brown sugar melds well, giving it a hint of warm molasses flavor. And it’s a great filling for my cinnamon browned butter cake with cinnamon vanilla bean buttercream.

How to make ginger bourbon peach compote

Dice the peaches and peel and grate the ginger.
Combine everything in a saucepan and cook until jammy/compote-y.
Add cornstarch, if desired.
Let cool and enjoy!

Tips for this recipe

Bourbon is optional

Honestly, you can make this any way you want. Omit the bourbon and even ginger for a true brown sugar peach jam. Skip the cornstarch and purée it for more of a coulis style sauce. Leave the peaches chunky for a traditional compote. It’s up to you, but the most likely ingredient you may want to swap is the bourbon. You can use another brown liquor, such as rum, or just omit it (not replacing it with water, since liquid isn’t necessary for it to cook down).

Add cinnamon for a spiced, fall flavor

I chose not to use cinnamon in my compote, because I knew it would be going in my cinnamon spiced cake and frosted with cinnamon vanilla bean buttercream. I figured that was enough cinnamon for one dessert. But if you’re using this more as a jam, cinnamon would be perfect!

Cook low and slow…ish

You can get away with cooking it higher and faster, but you risk losing the bourbon flavor. Also, mash as you stir so you’re not just relying on the cook to break down the peaches. If you cook it too long, you’ll also lose the bourbon flavor. That would be a tragedy.

Add ginger to taste

If you really like ginger, adding a teaspoon of chopped candied ginger in instead of—or in addition to—the fresh ginger would be perfect. I’ve done that in several recipes, and it delivers a nice ginger flavor without getting soapy. I wouldn’t use more than 1/2” fresh ginger, though, since that’s the ratio at which fresh ginger can become soapy instead of spicy.

Cook/mash to desired texture

As I mentioned above, you can leave the peaches relatively intact for a true compote (which is a bit like a chutney). I wanted more of a jam to fill my cake and maybe put on some scones or one of the many homemade breads/muffins I have lined up this week. Just know that the longer you cook it, the more the peaches break down. After about 5-10 minutes of simmering, the alcohol is cooked off, so it’s entirely up to you how long you cook it and how chunky you want the peaches.

Blanching to remove the peach skin is optional

I didn’t remove the skin from my peaches. They were already chopped and frozen with the skin on, so it was essentially impossible to get rid of it. Most of it cooked down to almost nothing in the finished compote anyway. I’ve included directions for removing peach skin, but if you don’t feel like blanching them and don’t mind hints of skin, that’s fine.

Alternatively, you could use frozen peaches that already have the skin removed. Just don’t used canned, as sitting in water or juice as well as a tin can alters the flavor and will not yield as fresh and peachy a compote.

Ginger Bourbon Peach Compote

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cook time: 20 minutes
chill time: 1 hour
total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

yields: about 1.5 cups

Ingredients:

3 cups diced peaches, skins removed (fresh or frozen, but not canned or jarred)
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) bourbon (omit if desired)
¼-½ inch freshly grated ginger root (can sub 1 teaspoon chopped candied ginger for a spicier ginger taste)
¼ cup brown sugar
small pinch sea salt
optional: ½ teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
optional: 1-2 tablespoons cornstarch, to create a thicker, more jam-like consistency

Instructions:

Optional: To remove peach skins, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare an ice bath of water and ice in a large mixing bowl next to the stove. Add whole peaches to the pot and boil 1 minute. Remove to the ice bath. Once cooked, the skins should come off easily. If your peaches are a little underripe, you can actually use a vegetable peeler to remove the skins. Or, you can leave it on (I did!).
Remove pit and dice peaches. 3-4 peaches should yield 3 cups diced.
To grate ginger, take about a 1 inch knob off the fresh root. Use a paring knife to shave/cut off the skin, then rinse with water to remove any flecks left on. Grate ¼ to ½ inch with a zester or fine grater. The extra length is there for you to hold onto without grating your fingers. :)
Add peaches, bourbon, ginger, brown sugar, and salt (and cinnamon, if using) to a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat then turn down to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Use a rubber spatula to stir and mash the peaches frequently.
If you want a jam-like consistency, after 10 or so minutes of cooking, once the peaches have mostly broken down, slowly sprinkle the cornstarch over the pan, stirring as you go so it doesn’t clump. Cook an additional 10 minutes, stirring and mashing frequently until it reaches desired consistency. It will only thicken very slightly as it cools. If you don’t need the cornstarch, only cook until peaches are sufficiently mashed.
If using right away, pour into a mixing bowl and refrigerate about 1 hour, stirring occasionally to speed up the cooking process. Otherwise, store in a tightly sealed jar in the fridge. If you’ll be keeping it a while before using, pour hot compote into an empty jar and seal right away then refrigerate. This should help the jar seal itself so it’ll keep fresh until you’re ready to use it.

Opened/unsealed compote will keep in the fridge 2-3 months. If properly sealed, it can last up to 2 years, but you’ll want to use traditional canning methods to properly seal it for that length of storage.

Enjoy!