Apricot Jam - General Description
Apricot trees were bred in Southeast Asia and soon spread to many countries. This plant was especially popular in Armenia, which is probably why in Latin the apricot is called Prúnus armeniáca. There are about 20 varieties of this fruit in the world, the sweetest of which are from Central Asia and are called apricot. There are wild apricots growing in Moldova and in the North Caucasus, they are called poles.
But no matter what kind of apricot is specifically discussed, it is worth mentioning the extraordinary value of this product. It contains a lot of vitamin C, folic acid, carotene (provitamin A), tartaric acid, trace elements (potassium, magnesium, forfor, iron, iodine), flavonoids, sugars, tannins, pectin and much more. Apricots are very useful for lack of vitamins, anemia and cardiovascular diseases.
Unfortunately, the Russian climate does not allow eating fresh apricots year round, but you can make jam from them that will be no less tasty and healthy. For jam, depending on the recipe, you can use both ripe fruits and slightly unripe. You can cook it only from apricots, or you can combine different fruits. The texture of the finished goodies can also be different, in addition to traditional preserves, these can be jams or jams.
Apricot Jam - Cooking Utensils
Enamel cookware is required for cooking. Its volume is selected at the rate of about 1.5 liters per 1 kg of fresh fruit. It is better if the pan is wide and low, then it will be easier to mix the jam during the cooking process. Glass jars are used to store jam, which should be pre-sterilized. To do this, pre-washed cans are placed in a large container with water and boiled for several minutes. To get cans from boiling water and not get burned, it is better to stock up with special forceps. The size of the container is determined by the appetites of your household. It is better not to store an open jar for a long time, that is, the less jam you can eat in a couple of days, the less there should be a container. As for the lids, you can use metal screws, glass, plastic, or you can just close the jar with parchment and tie it with twine.
Apricot Jam - Fruit Preparation
You can use any kind of apricot for jam, including semi-wild herds. Overripe fruits should not be used. Apricots are cooked either in whole or in halves, after separating the seeds. Some housewives only slightly cut the fruits so that after removing the seeds the fruit is almost intact. This mainly depends on the size of the fruit and individual preferences. Sometimes kernels extracted from the seeds are put in jam, but with such recipes you need to be careful, because sometimes the kernels can cause unpleasant consequences up to poisoning.
Apricot jam (option 1)
To prepare such a jam, it is better to use slightly unripe fruits. They should be thoroughly washed, dried on a towel, freed from stones and put in an enameled container. Next, a syrup is prepared from sugar and water in a ratio of 4: 1 (that is, 800 g of sugar will be required for 200 ml of water). Sugar is poured with water in a separate pan, and with continuous stirring, the resulting mixture is brought to a boil. Next, prepared apricots are poured with syrup at the rate of 1 liter per 1 kg of fruit. After this, the container should be covered with a towel and left in a cool place for 10-12 hours (for example, at night). Then the syrup is poured into a saucepan, brought back to a boil, poured fruit with it and again left at the same time. The process should be repeated 3-4 times, then the fruits in the finished jam will remain whole and appetizing in appearance. After all this, put the jam on a slow fire and cook for 35-40 minutes. Then it is poured into prepared jars, tightly closed with lids and placed in a cool place.
Apricot jam (option 2)
For those who do not have time for repeated manipulations with syrup, there is another recipe. Apricots should be washed, dried and pitted. Then they need to be covered with sugar in the ratio of 1 kg of sand per 1 kg of fruit. It is necessary to wait until the fruits give a juice that completely covers them. After that, the container is put on a slow fire, and the jam is brought to a boil with constant stirring. As soon as the contents of the pan boil, it is removed from the heat and cooled to room temperature. After that, bring to a boil again, repeating this procedure 2-3 times. It also contributes to better preservation of fruits in the finished jam.
Apricot jam with oranges
For those who like a pleasant acidity in dishes, an apricot jam recipe with oranges is suitable. For this dish you will need 1 kg of oranges and 2 kg of sugar per 4 kg of apricots. Oranges should be cut into half rings, and apricots divided into halves, removing the seeds. Next, the fruit is laid out in an enameled bowl and covered with sugar. After 2-3 hours, put the dishes on a slow fire and bring to a boil. Cool and repeat the process. Then spread in jars, tightly close and put in a cool place.
Apricot jam
For this dish you need to take very ripe fruits, wash them, dry, separate the seeds and pass through a meat grinder. You can also grind in a mixer, blender or food processor. Next, the resulting puree should be mixed with sugar at the rate of 0.5 kg of sugar per 1 kg of fruit. Jam is boiled over high heat with constant vigorous stirring for 12-15 minutes. They are laid out in jars hot, wrapped in heat and kept until completely cooled. Store the jam in a cool place.
Apricot jam - tips from experienced chefs
Tip 1. For jam with stones, only large-sized fruits with kernels that have a pleasant sweet taste are suitable. If the nucleolus is bitter or sour, it is not recommended to use it.
Tip 2. In order for the apricot to remain intact, the seed can be removed not by cutting the fruit, but simply push it out with a wooden stick. An indispensable condition for such a decision - the apricot must be very ripe.
Tip 3. For better preservation, you can add a little citric acid to the jam (about ½ teaspoon per 2 kg of jam).
