Awesome Apricot Jam
Summer is going so fast. Too fast!
The Little Man is going back to school in just a few weeks. (He starts a little sooner than the rest of the country. I don’t know why.)
AND, he’s in first grade this year. Ugh! I can’t handle that. Well, I guess I will have to.
Anyway, one of the things about summer passing that he and I lament the most is…
No, it’s not the warm weather. We live in one of the foggiest places in summer time.
No, it’s not the free play time. It’s… It’s…
Apricots.
Or I should say, the lack of apricots. The end of apricot season.
In fact, I am not sure I even am getting this post up in time to be of any help to anyone. It may already be too late. They may be gone everywhere.
This year, I decided to get a huge box of these amazing Blenheim Apricots (Yeah, it needs to be capitalized.) to share with my in-laws. When I got the email saying the box was ready for pick up on a Friday, I realized that they were flying out of town for over a week that Thursday.
What was I going to do with 15 pounds of apricots? Blenheim Apricots.
I mean, the Little Man and I like apricots, but let’s get real. These suckers are so delicate, they go fast. You can look at them one minute, and they are perfect. Come back an hour later, and they are wasting away. A slight breeze makes them bruise.
“But why would you get them if they are so delicate?” you ask.
Because they are so freakin’ awesome! Seriously, melting candy in your mouth.
In fact, I think candy tastes kind of bland compared to these.
Anyway, back to my dilemma. What to do with these apricots? I know! Just what I did with all of those apples we got last fall and couldn’t eat fast enough.
APRICOT JAM!
We love apricot jam. Everyone loves apricot jam. Who doesn’t love apricot jam?
So, I was going to need my apricots. (Blenheim Apricots.) I was going to need sugar. And I was going to need pectin. Oh, wait a minute…
I just found out a few days before that I was allergic to yeast. Yeast is a starter for commercial citric acid. It doesn’t get completely filtered out. Pectin has citric acid in it. At least the pectin I had. UGH!
Well, screw it, I’m going to make it anyway. Let’s just see what happens. Either I’m going to save these apricots (Blenheim Apricots) to eat later, or I am going to throw them in the compost because they are rotting so fast.
Apricot Jam it is!
Well, it turned out not too bad. In fact, it turned out pretty darn good. It’s not super gelatinous, but I don’t really care about that, do you? I just want it to taste like the fruit it is made with, a little extra sweet and spreads nicely on my bread. (Well, other peoples bread until I figure out how to make bread without yeast or eggs. Good luck with that.)
So below is my recipe for Pectin Free Apricot Jam. (Blenheim Apricot Jam.)
This will work with any apricots, and if you still have some in your area, I suggest making it so you can enjoy that apricot-y goodness all through the year. It’s really easy.
Apricot Jam (Pectin Free)
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Yield: 8 half pints 1x
Ingredients
- 8 cups Apricots (stone removed and cut each side into quarters)
- 4 cups Sugar
- 1/4 cup Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Put a small plate in your freezer.
- Add all ingredients into a large/tall pot. (It will splatter a bit when it boils, so you want to make sure you don’t get hit with it.)
- Cook on medium heat for 30 minutes.
- Keep an eye on it and stir a lot.
- Mush the pieces up a bit with a wooden spoon as you stir.
- Take a small bit out with a spoon and place it on the freezer-ed plate. If it stiffens a bit, you are ready to can. If not, cook another 5-10 minutes until it does stiffen on the frozen plate.
- Spoon into warm jars and can in water bath. (I follow the instructions on the bottom of the Ball Jar box, so I am linking to them here. Someday I will do a canning post because I am digging it.)
- Here is a link for the canning pot I use and the canning equipment. If you haven’t canned before, you will need these. Yes, all of the equipment helps a lot. And yes the last two links are affiliate links.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
I’m not a jam girl, but this jam does look beautiful. I’m sure many will appreciate the recipe so I appreciate you sharing it on Gluten-Free Wednesdays!
Shirley
It’s more like sweet apricots on bread. But I don’t get bread anymore, so I will have to figure out something else. ^-^ Thanks for letting me share.
xoxo,
Tia
I can’t wait to try to make this recipe. Thank you. sign Cherie De Coto