Apricot Vanilla Jam – From the Jam goddess – Irene Ens
Apricot jam is my favourite. I think that apricots exist only to give their rosy lives to jam. Jam is the place where the fullness of their taste can be savored. I know it is a bit early for them, but I wanted you to have this recipe at the ready for when you see the first ones. The recipe should be started the night before you want to cook the jam. The vanilla adds a wonderful dimension to the jam but leave it out if you wish.
Method: Rinse and cut apricots in half. Cut in quarters if you have really large apricots. Put all the ingredients into a pan and bring to a simmer. Do not let it boil until all the sugar is dissolved. When it reaches a simmer, pour contents back into a bowl.
Take a piece of wax paper and press onto the surface of the mixture so that the apricots are not exposed to air. Refrigerate overnight.
The next morning, sieve the juice into a pan and boil until quite thick continually stirring. It will bubble when it’s ready. This small quantity will reach that stage quickly, so stay alert. At this point, you add the apricot halves back into the mixture. Bring to a boil again stirring gently for about 5 minutes. Remove the vanilla beans.
Put jam in a washed and sterilized jar. (Sterilize by leaving jar in oven at 250º F for 10 minutes).
Place lid on jar and let sit to cool. Enjoy.Ingredients:
– ½ kg Apricots (after the stones are out which means about 700 gm apricot with stones)
– 2 cups Sugar
– 3 ounces Water
– Juice of one small Lemon
– 1 Vanilla Bean cut in half lengthwise