apricot jam recipe

For the first time ever, I made jam—specifically, apricot jam using freshly picked, completely organic apricots! Never really having adopted the ‘think local’ and ‘seasonal cooking’ attitude, this was an exciting experience for me. There’s something to be said about adapting your cooking to what mother earth provides at that given moment—it feels incredibly rewarding.

apricot jam recipe

apricot jam recipe

It began with my parents bringing over a few apricots, telling me that their neighbour’s tree had an overabundance of these tiny orange fruits ripe for the picking and that they were giving them away.

I asked if there were anymore and they said there were so many that they could probably get me several pounds, which they did. I was then faced with a dilemma, I wasn’t able to eat all of them in time which would be quite wasteful. So I thought, why not make jam? Here’s how I did it.

apricot jam recipe

First, I googled ‘Apricot Jam Recipe’ and of course, David Lebovitz’s ‘Apricot Jam’ recipe was the first result on the page. I am a big fan of his writing and I purchased his book ‘My Paris Kitchen’ a while back (quite an entertaining read, although I am guilty of having yet tried any of the recipes in it!).

With confidence, I followed the recipe to a tee (with scaled ingredient measurements), although I also watched Martha’s Stewart’s Apricot Jam instructional video for additional research. As for the canning process, there are many online resources available and I decided to use the canning beginner’s guide published on ‘Food in Jars’.

apricot jam instructions

I used the Bernadin’s 125 ml canning jars (available at Walmart and Canadian Tire), which were the perfect size to give as gifts to friends and family. There are a lot of ‘canning kits’ for sale which include tongs specifically to fit around glass jars, a rod with a magnet on the end for picking up jar covers, and a funnel for filling the jars. These kits were tempting, but in the end, I stuck with getting an ordinary funnel and using regular cooking tongs to manoeuvre the jars and jar covers. For me, this worked out fine and I now have 12 jars of Apricot jam (some already handed out) which pair wonderfully with toast or scones.

apricot jam recipe

From this experience, I learned two new skills—how to make jam (incredibly easy), and how to ‘can’ jam so it will have a longer shelf life. I wish I had done this sooner because this is definitely a notch on my culinary belt that I’m proud of! I hope you try it too!

apricot jam recipe

apricot jam recipe

apricot jam recipe

 

Apricot Jam

YIELD: 12 Jars of Jam (125ml each)
ACTIVE TIME: 30 mins
TOTAL TIME (active + inactive time): 2 hrs (I don’t quite remember to be honest)
CREDITS: David Lebovitz’s Apricot Jam recipe

INGREDIENTS

  • 1.6 kg fresh apricots
  • 100ml (little less than 1/2 cup) water
  • 5 cups (1125 g) white sugar
  • 1.5 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Cut the apricots in half and take out the pits. Take 3-4 pits, wrap them in a paper towel and crack them open with a hammer on a surface you won’t mind damaging (like concrete). Discard the brown shell and save the white bits in a spice bag (or teabag) which you will cook with the apricot later.
  2. Add the apricots and water to a stock pot and turn the heat to medium-high. Stir occasional to prevent burning the bottom. Once the apricots reach a roiling boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and stir in the sugar, lemon juice and the teabag containing the white bits from the apricot pit.
  3. Put a small plate in the freezer.
  4. Keep simmering the apricots with occasional stirring until they have broken down and the mixture looks somewhat like jam. Put a small amount of this ‘jam’ on the chilled plate and pop it back into the freezer for 3 – 4 minutes. Now do the nudge test, which involves sliding your finger through the jam and if it wrinkles as shown in the photo above, then it’s ready. If it’s not ready, then keep cooking and testing until it is.
  5. Remove the spice bag with the apricot bits. Use a funnel and distribute the jam into the canning jars. Follow the canning instructions/guidelines you have on hand.

NOTES

  • According to David Lebovitz, this jam will keep for 1 year if refrigerated. I canned my jams for longer shelf life so mine will last 18 months unopened, and 6 months to a year after I open them (keeping them refrigerated of course). These are the canning instructions I used: beginner’s guide published on ‘Food in Jars’.
  • The white bits (kernel) of the apricot seeds is commonly added to apricot jam to impart a another dimension of bitter flavour.

 

7 Comments

  • Ruth
    8 years ago

    Awesome pictures and great inspirational post! What did you do with the seeds? Are those edible??

    • 8 years ago

      Hi Ruth! Thank you for your comment, please check out my other posts as well!

      Apricot seeds are commonly used to impart flavour in apricot jam. Italian liqueur called Amaretto is often made with Almonds and a few Apricot Kernels. Same with amaretto cookies. In the recipe that David has here, the white bits are placed into the jam and cooked together. Sweet apricot kernels are safe to consume in very low quantities as too much can be hazardous (as is the same with all things).

      • 4 years ago

        Hi Ruth,

        Since this comment has been posted, new health regulations from Canada have been published regarding the consumption of apricot kernels . Despite the fact that apricot kernels are sold as snacks in many countries (for those who are reading this, please do look up the regulations for your country), in Canada, it is a recommended amount of 3 kernels maximum consumed per day. Hope that helps!

  • Devchenka
    6 years ago

    Won’t apricot seeds make jam bitter? I only tried few pits that weren’t bitter most of them are. How much would you put in a jam? Does this jam needs to be refrigerated, can it be stored without it sense its preserved with sugar. Thanks

    • 6 years ago

      Yes the seeds hold some bitterness but I think this doesn’t really come through strong in the jam and it adds a subtle dimension to it. The jam can be stored at room temperature as long as it’s sealed properly. I refrigerate mine though. Hope that helps!

  • Amanda
    5 years ago

    Apricot kernels are poisonous, your supposed to use the kernel hulls ( black part ) for flavor not the kernels.

    • 4 years ago

      Hi Amanda! Happy you brought this up! I recommend that you please follow the recommended food guides of your country regarding the consumption of apricot kernels. They are sold as snacks in many places, here is the recommended consumption guide for Canada, which states a maximum of 3 kernels consumed per day.

      As with many things, in small amounts, the apricot seed flavouring is harmless. For example, the above recipe calls for 3 – 4 kernels cooked with the jam divided into 12 cans and these pits are removed from the jam before canning so there is no consumption of the actual kernel.

      As for the flavour, to me it doesn’t seem released in the hull but in the kernel, although this sounds like a food science experiment in maximizing flavour waiting to be explored!

      Thanks again for leaving a comment!

Leave A Comment

Related Posts