Apricot Jam
I love making jams. I bought a bunch of apricots that were mush after 24 hours and decided to make some jam. I got this recipe off of Food 52. Didn't truly follow it but a few lessons learned along the way.
Roughly 3-4 lbs of apricots, pitted and cut in quarters
water
3/4 cups of sugar
1 tbsp. ground cardamon
In a medium sized sauce pan put in all the apricots and barely cover with water. Bring to a boil and then down to a simmer. Once in a while you can stir the apricot mixture but basically let this simmer until the water is gone and the apricots have a mushy consistency. This could take up to an hour or less.
Once that is done take it off the heat and let this cool until warm (above room temperature). Then add in 3/4 cups of sugar. I first put in 3 cups and opted to toss in another cup. This is also when I added the cardamon. Mix this up and let it stand for about 10 minutes. Everything should be melted and incorporated.
Put the pot back over the heat and bring to a boil and then back down to a medium heat. For about 10-15 minutes you need to continue stirring this mixture. There was a point where I knew it was probably done but I continued letting the mixture heat. I noticed that it started to look like it was caramelizing and so I took it off the heat. Let it cool and put it in a jelly jar.
Fast forward, the mixture is almost like a candy jelly vs a jam. So, lessons learned along the way but still delicious.
Comments (Archived):
sweet!
tis
looks great. Also, thanks for mentioning food 52. It looks like a good site
I think your jam would go well with hard/strong cheese if it has a candy-like consistency.Apricot jam is my favorite jam. I can have every day (actually I do…most days). I was lucky that my Mom gave me a big jar of home-made Apricot jam 2 weeks ago (see pic). It was the only thing I brought back from the vacation trip. That tells you how much I value a good Apricot jam 🙂
No pectin or bit of lemon juice? Maybe that was the issue. There are pros/cons and factors for using them, but I won’t get into it here.
I don’t use pectin with my apricot jam, I don’t boil it first either 🙂 Interesting recipe though..I must try this method to experiment! For me, depending on the sweetness of the apricots, I usually use 1 lb of sugar to 5 lbs of chopped apricots (I never make a batch larger than this even commercially), I do use fresh lemon, half of a vanilla bean–I reserve some of the “almonds”, the inside of the pit, I crush them, put them in cheesecloth and cook them along with the apricots and sugar. I need to put the recipe up on my blog so that it will come up on a search. For your batch, I would use it as a glaze for chicken and pork, water it down just a tad–it will add fantastic flavor.
i like the idea of the chopped pits. i melted it down the other night and poured it over cake.
Oh yes over cake!!! Yes the pits add a bitter almond flavor, terribly french 🙂
Joanne -You know how once in a while something really excellent happens, and life is never quite the same?Well – that’s how much I like home-made preserves that I have never previously tried anyway !So, recently I was staying with one of my startup partners with his charming family http://www.facebook.com/asm… and they provided me a lovely breakfast.However, finishing with a slice of toast and a coffee, it was suggested I try something new…. Hollunderbluten Gelee.http://www.kochbar.de/rezep…Basically, think elderflower blossom marmalade!My translation roughly :Soak Elderflower blossom with a covering of apple juice and lemon to taste for around 24 hours. (They don’t put the citrus peels shreds in – but it would work)Sieve off the liquid, stir in “jam-sugar” (I guess any sugar).Bring to boil – three minutes and preserveHonestly a morning to remember! – thanks Sonya !
yum. elderberry flowers were big in copenhagen for some reason. must have been the season.
David Lebovitz @davidlebovitz Apricot jam http://instagr.am/p/NLYEo6T…
nice!
I was inspired to make this with some changes honey not sugar and lemon peel. Its really good and thank you