From the book "L’Armoire à Confitures" by Laurent DUTHEIL
and Jane & Glyn Phillips (Sadly now
out of print) (Notes in italics are by the friend who sent me the recipe)
Apricot jam
Ingredients: 1
kilo of apricots / 750g of sugar
Cut apricots
into four pieces. Remove and discard the stones. (Note from me: if the
apricots are small – and jam apricots often are – I cut them in half as I like
bigger pieces of apricot in my jam).
Mix the fruit
and sugar in a stainless steel container and leave to macerate for 18 hours. (Note
from me: maybe about 12 hours if the fruit is very ripe and squishy)
Cook on a low
heat for about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir from time to time. (Note from me:
low heat is important; take care the jam doesn't “catch” at the bottom of the
pan).
The jam is
cooked when the juice has thickened. (I still do the blob on a cold
saucer test to check that it is setting. However, you will probably find that the set is
runnier than British jelly set.)
Put into pots.
Cover and seal using the “upside-down” method.
Macerate
Use plain, white,
granulated or caster sugar. Recommended ratio of sugar to fruit is
between 750g and 800g to 1 kg of fruit – depending on sugar content of fruit.
Minimum
recommended is 700g sugar per kilo of fruit. The sugar is added to the fruit
and left for some hours in a cool place prior to cooking. A plastic or ceramic
container can be used but not aluminium. Ideal temperature is between 12 – 16°C
but the fridge is too cold.
Times vary:
Raspberries and
other very fragile fruits – 8 hours
Strawberries – 10 hours (add juice of 3 lemons per kilo of fruit after maceration)
Plums – 12 hours
Peaches and apricots
– 18 hours
Firm fruits can
be stirred to distribute the sugar during maceration but delicate fruits should
not be.
The macerating
draws the moisture from the fruit, allows faster cooking and this both
preserves the flavour of the fruit and saves energy.
Upside-down
method of sealing
Sterilise jars
in the oven (or whatever is your preferred method of sterilisation). Don’t
cool: pour the jam into the warmed pots as quickly as possible. Tighten lids
straight away so that the jam produces a vacuum as it cools. Turn the pots
upside-down immediately and leave in this position until cold. Then turn
upright.
Thank you for the recipe. They were selling confiture apricots in the local shop and the ladies said your recipe and insisted no lemons were necessary. When I got home, Google said lemons so I put the juice of one - couldn't do any harm - but I think I must have boiled too hard because the jam is a mush. Delicious but a mush.
ReplyDeleteIf your apricots are very ripe the jam will easily mush, but still be delicious, as you say. I don't use lemons and end up with a soft jam with bigger pieces in it, but never whole apricot halves or anything like that. For the fruit pieces to remain whole would make it a preserve rather than a jam in my book. :-)
DeleteThank you - now, back to the post.
ReplyDeleteBy the time the third commenter had asked for the recipe, it was obvious a separate page was needed. :-)
DeleteThanks for putting the recipe up as I was going to ask if the same could be used for strawberries as I see you have added that. Have you tried it with rhubard. Have loads of both this year. I usually make chutney with the rhubard.
ReplyDeleteIf you use strawberries you need the juice of 3 lemons per kilo of fruit to get enough pectin to achieve a degree of set. There's a delicious-sounding recipe for rhubarb and lemon jam which I'll add to this page as soon as I can.
DeleteThanks for the recipe, I will try it as soon as I can get my hands on some lovely apricots !!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your search if you're in the UK. I always have difficulty finding any at less than an exorbitant price. Not that they are cheap in France, but the quality is usually very good.
Delete