1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
juice of 1 lemon
Peel and rough chop the peaches. Add the peaches to a heavy pot along with the water and sugar. Heat on medium, stirring to dissolve the sugar. When the mixture comes to a boil, lower the heat slightly and cook for about 20 minutes until the peaches are completely tender. Stir occasionally. Add the lemon juice to the peaches, and then, working in batches, puree the fruit until it is completely smooth. Don't rush this step, let the processor or blender run long enough to get all of the lumps. At this point strain the puree through a mesh strainer just to make sure it is completely smooth. Push it firmly with the back of a spoon to get all the puree through. Discard any lumps. Put the puree back into the (rinsed out) pan and bring back up to a boil. Lower the heat and cook gently until it is greatly reduced and thickened. This will take about 40 minutes or so. Stir very frequently during this step so the fruit doesn't scorch. The longer you cook the peach puree, the thicker the butter will be. 40 minutes of gentle boiling should do the trick. Ladle the hot peach butter into a clean jar or jars and let cool before capping and refrigerating. The peach butter will thicken as it cools. Consume within a couple of weeks.