Friday, August 3, 2007

Apricot Jam

Today I made apricot jam for the first time. I'm not keen on plain canned apricots and these are a bit overripe so I thought they would be perfect for jam. I dug out my, very tattered and torn, 1946 cookbook, bought quite a few years ago from a second hand store. It has hand written notations and recipes throughout from the previous owner and looks like it got a lot of use. Quite an interesting book but unfortunately not for apricot jam. Funny thing, my Mom was able to get her hands on the almost identical cookbook, mind you the one she has is in a lot better shape than mine :)



So I went surfing the net for the perfect recipe. I do hope I found it because I can't believe you would boil jam for 30 minutes! And then process it for another 10! I guess we'll see when I let it cool off and see how "set" it is :) There's only three ingredients so, other than all the pitting and dicing, the recipe is quite easy.
Here's a picture of a small amount that was boiled but not processed. It almost looks like jam now, and I'm hoping I don't have to pull out the heavy artillery if it does set up much more.



It tastes great, and is very, very sweet but what can you expect from jam? I think Sydney will love it in yogurt and that's mainly why I made it :)

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Kansas...
Your jam looks super great! And now that you have that mastered so well. I think your next batch (tomorrow perhaps):) you could add some pineapple to the apricots it's one of my very favorite jams and I would love to taste that in your homemade yogurt. I do like both mind you. Oh and I just thought "homemade bread" and jam. OK enough thinking! I just want to jump in my car and head up there. I miss ya all.

Love Ya!

Jackie said...

You are REALLY making me want to move to your neck of the woods!

Anonymous said...

oh.my.gosh...it looks delicious!! (you have an awesome camera - may I ask what kind it is? I'm in the market for a new one - mine stinks!)

Anyway, I think I'm moving up to your mountain so I can bug you for jars of cherries and apricot jam - and maybe even a loaf or two of bread. =)

David T. Macknet said...

As I recall, apricot doesn't tend to set up too firmly. My mom would always make it & boil it for longer than 1/2 an hour, and wouldn't put any pectin in it at all, so it'd be sort of more like a syrup than a jam, but with chunks. It was great that way, but not easy to spread on bread!

If you have inconsistent results you might try using Pomona's Universal Pectin, as it's JUST pectin (without corn starch or tapioca or anything). It works very well, consistently.

Anonymous said...

Your jam looks delicious! I haven't eaten apricot jam in years. The best I ever had was when I lived in Lillooet. Must be something about the apricots there :)

Little Ol' Liz said...

Wouldn't that jam make an incredible BBQ sauce base? On pork! Or dolloped over a block of cream cheese for an appetizer? Or to soothe a firey hot jalapeno popper?
Wow - is it any wonder I get hungry reading your Blog? You rock, Kansas!

KansasA said...

Liz: I never thought of it as a bbq sauce but it does sound good!

Wendy: Yes I agree with you, there's certainly something about Lillooet apricots! They are a lot smaller than some I've seen but they do taste good! I'm wondering if we know each other or our families, when did you live here?

Darcy said...

I would love to see your pantry! I bet it is gorgeous with all of the preserving you have been doing. The apricot jam looks delicious!

Dora Renee Wilkerson said...

That looks so good! Ok, I am hungry now... Off to make something..

Dora Renee' Wilkerson

Anonymous said...

Boil some chicken wings 1/2 hour or so and put them on a cookie sheet. Mix a little soya sauce with that apricot jam and baste the wings under the broiler. Turn them over and baste this side and broil until carmelly. Watch close as this doesn't take long. But the wings are fully cooked before the broiler. Auntie B.

fiftyfinally said...

apricot marmalade and blueberry jam are the only two jams in me. And they always turn out. I didn't get any apricots from my mom this year hmmmm. I'll have to look into that. I used the marmalade for marinating chops and chicken all year, and for dipping sauces. Your pic's are very good for a home sick BC're.

KansasA said...

Thanks Fiftyfinally :) I was going to use up the blueberries to make jam but didn't have enough. Hubby is heading off to work soon and can get some down the coast for next week, along with a bunch of corn I plan to can. Apricot marmalade sounds great, I'll have to make some for next year!

NEO said...

I made this last night, but it never thickened up and is very thin. I was wondering if you had any suggestions as to what I need to do to get it thick. I found this recipe online then remembered you had made some a while back, and well you had the exact same recipe linked that I had found already.

KansasA said...

Hi NEO,
You may need to boil it a bit harder and a touch longer. I think what helps with the thickening is the addition of the lemon juice. Also how ripe were the apricots? Ripe apricots are low in pectin and you should make sure you use a bit of underipe fruit when making apricot jam and that may help.