Apricot Jam

This summer my friend Connie visited from Ontario and brought a delicious jar of homemade apricot jam.  It was so delicious on toast, and amazing as a glaze for the apricots in this Apricot Almond Cake. I can easily say that apricot jam is my favourite of all the jams, and yet I’ve never made it before.  Since my sweetheart loves it as much as I do, I searched many produce stores to find apricots this late in the summer, (actually a few weeks ago now), and managed to find a few pounds.  Connie sent me her recipe, and I cooked up a batch.  Love the colour, love the smell, and I’m looking forward to tasting it all winter long!

The recipe is proportional, about 3 parts fruit to 1 part sugar.  I’m writing the amounts I used, but you can experiment depending on the amount you are using, as well as the flavour in your fruit.  Sometimes they need a little extra (or start with less) sugar or citrus.

What you need:

12 cups pitted and chopped apricots

4 cups white sugar

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

canning jars, rings and new lids

What you do:

1. Chop the apricots up into small pieces and put them into a large pot with the sugar and citrus juices.  Bring to a low boil and skim off any foam.  Let it cook, stirring often,  on a low simmer until the mixture has thickened.  To test how thick your jam will be when it has cooled you can put a plate in the freezer.  Just drop a little jam onto the icy plate and let it cool, then give it a push with your finger to see if it is thick enough.  If not, just keep cooking it for longer.

2. Preheat the oven to 225F.  After washing your canning jars, put them in the oven for at least 20 minutes to sterilize them.  Heat a small pot of water for your lids to sterilize them and soften the rubber ring.  Just a note: it’s not a good idea to re-use the lids (the rings are fine to re-use though) because they may not seal properly.

3. Once your jam is ready pour it into the sterilized jars, keeping the edges of the jar clean so you will get a good seal.  Put a lid and ring on each and tighten it. My mom and Oma always put a tea towel over the jars until they seal, so that’s what I did.  You’ll hear the lids ‘ping’ as they seal.  I try to keep track of how many pings I hear so I know they’ve all sealed.

I used some jam in this recipe for warm peaches and yogurt.