Apricot Jam Recipe

How to Dry Apricots

Our one and only apricot tree was so heavy with fruits that we had to support the branches or they would break. The other day (I'm writing this in mid June) I harvested two buckets full. In addition, our four year old sour cherry trees were doing quite well, too - loads of small red fruits between the heavy green foliage.

I'm not a big fan of sour cherry - you can't eat them fresh and what are you going to make from them? Liqueur that no one drinks? I can't understand how we managed to plant two of these tree, though we probably thought they were normal sweet cherries...A slight surprise last year when we got fruits for the first time and discovered what it tasted like...Well, I filled a bowl and decided to use them in the apricot jam - as they probably would add a fresh taste to the very sweet apricots.

Back in the kitchen to start jamming!

I'm not going to claim that this is a Greek recipe! The Greeks like very sweet jam and would probably use the apricots to make koutalia, a sweet dessert of fruits that has so much sugar that it can stand upright. But, at least the apricot tree is Greek and grows in a garden in Greece...

As the tree was so full with fruits some of the apricots had only got sun on one side, and would be half ripe/half greenish. So I choose these apricots for the jam, plus those who were really, really ripe - leaving the perfect ones for drying. I didn't bother to peel them, unless the peel came off very easy, as in the very ripe ones.

I filled a pot that takes 4 liters with finely chopped apricots, two-three cups of cherries and one apple that has been in the fridge for ages, waiting to be eaten. I also added one cinnamon stick and four cloves, plus the juice of one lemon. I used a little over one kilo of sugar.

Putting the jam to boil and removing as much of the foam as possible. I left it boil slowly for about tree quarter of an hour. As the jam was still a bit runny I emptied everything into a sieve and let it run off a bit, before putting it back into the pot. Adding more sugar would have been an alternative.

While the jam boiled I had also boiled the clean jars and the lids and now I filled the hot jars to the top with jam and put on the lid immediately.

Next morning for breakfast we had pancakes made from loads of eggs from our chickens, with the homemade jam on top. Can life get any better?:)

Still loads of apricots left, so I decided to try to dry some of them, as I always snack on dried apricots. I haven't had much success when I've tried to sun dry tomatoes, so I couldn't bother to try to dry the apricots in the sun.

I cut the apricots in half, removed the stone and put the halves with the round side up on a grill, turning them around at the end of the process. Under the grill I placed a baking tray covered with baking paper. I turned the oven on 60 C , using the van. Placed the tray with the grill in the middle of the oven, and stuck a wooden spoon in the door to keep it open for the damp to get out.

It's impossible to say how long it takes to dry apricots. Mine were in the oven for at least four hours. You need to keep checking. When they are ready they are supposed to be soft (it feels like you're pinching a marshmallow between your fingers), but you shouldn't see any sign of juice. If you leave them too long they will be hard. You'll probably find that some get ready before others.

After they had cooled, I filled the dried apricots into cellophane bags and keep in the fridge.

I read somewhere that the professionally dried apricots are added something so that they stay for ages. The ones I dried are also much darker, more brown than orange - and much sweeter.

I have no idea how long they will last, and I do suspect they will be eaten before I find out!

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