Basic Apricot Jam

This recipie is for a small batch of jam. It should make 2-3 250ml (8oz) jars, but it’s easy to double or triple. 1.5 lbs of fruit = 1/4 cup of sugar.

Wash and halve or quarter your apricots, and stick them in a covered container with the sugar and lemon juice and let macerate overnight in the fridge. (You can skip this step, but it adds a richer deeper flavour.)

Pour the macerated fruit and the juices that it’s soaking in into a Dutch oven or a thick-bottomed pot, and bring to a simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, skimming the top if needed.

Depending on how chunky you want your jam, after about 15-20 minutes cooking time, the fruit should be starting to fall apart. You can then mash it with a potato masher to make it a less chunky jam. At this stage you might want to test its tartness; some people don’t like a tart jam, and may want to add another 1/4 cup of sugar. And then continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes until it reaches jam-like consistency, then spoon onto a cold plate to check if it’s finished.

Spoon the jam into hot sterilized jars, sealing immediately.

This is a nice tart jam, and goes well with toast, or in baked goods, or spooned over vanilla ice cream or yoghurt.