Apricot. At this time of year it’s my favourite colour,
fruit and flavour. And if you’ve never eaten a freshly-picked super-ripe
apricot then you’ve never truly tasted one - it's like drinking sunshine. The good news is that apricots are easy to
grow in, even a small backyard like mine.
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| Apricots, from flower to fruit. |
My absolute favourite recipe is as follows:
- Stand under an overladen apricot tree on a hot
summer’s day.- Pick an apricot.
- Eat the apricot.
- Repeat several times.
But there comes a time during harvest when eating a dozen
apricots a day doesn’t make a dint in the crop. Meanwhile, the birds are
ignoring your pathetic attempt to net the tree and even the slaters and ants
are making the trek up the trunk to join in the feast. You can give the excess
fruit away, or you can cook or preserve the apricots, which means you can enjoy
that spectacular summery flavour even in the depths of winter.
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| A family of wrens moved into the apricot tree |
Homemade apricot jam is some of the best jam out there and
well worth the effort. Most recipes are super high in sugar as they call for
equal portions of fruit and sugar. I use a third of the sugar and still get
great results. Your jam will be slightly runnier and may not last for years,
but still sets well and tastes just as good.
This recipe can be used for any stone fruit. Apricot stones,
or seeds, are easy to remove but it’s much harder to remove the seeds from raw
plums, so cook them first and you’ll be able to fish them out of the saucepan. For
my plum jam, I also add a whole bunch of spices – star anise, cinnamon, cloves,
and nutmeg. For non-vegans, honey works as well as sugar. I like my jam nice
and chunky but if you’d like a more even texture you can blend the fruit before
adding the sugar.
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| Retrieving the kernel from the apricot stone |
Once you’ve cooked down the fruit and added the sugar, you’ll
want it to bubble away until the jam is ready. It’s best to cook your jam over
a moderate heat as, while a high temperature will cook it faster it can also
cause the fruit to “catch” on bottom of the pan, which will instantly change
the taste of the jam. Best case scenario, it will add a burnt caramel flavour.
Let it catch for more than a minute or two and you will have to tell your
friends and family it’s one of those new hipster smoked jams. You can prevent
the jam catching by stirring it regularly but be very careful as it will bubble
and spit and scorch your fingers. Or you can just cook it longer on a lower
temperature.
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| Testing the jam - you can see the vanilla seeds |
Apricot and vanilla jam
1.5 kg de-seeded and quartered apricots
Handful of apricot stones (aka seeds)
2 tbs lemon juice
500 sugar
Vanilla pod (optional)
Several clean jars with metal lids
An empty plate, placed in the freezer (trust me)
De-seed and quarter your apricots and weigh them, so that
you know how much sugar to use. In this low(er)-sugar recipe, use 500g sugar
for every 1.5 kg de-seeded fruit.
Crack the stones to retrieve the almond-like kernel in the
centre. I find the best way to do this is in the backyard, on pavers, one at a
time inside an old tea towel, so the sharp pieces of shell don’t go flying. Tap
each stone with a mallet or hammer a few times until you hear the crack – this
way you’ll get the kernel out whole rather than picking it out in teeny pieces
amongst the shell fragments. These kernels will help the jam to set. Discard
the shells.
Put the apricots in a large saucepan with the lemon juice
and just a smidge of water to get things cooking along. Simmer over a
low-medium heat with a lid on for about 20-30 minutes or until they’ve cooked
down to a nice smushiness. Blend using a stick blender or mash if desired.
Split the vanilla pod lengthways and add both vanilla pieces,
the apricot kernels and the sugar to the saucepan and stir through. Boil over a
medium heat for 20 minutes then test whether the jam has set. To test the jam,
get that plate out of the freezer, drop about a teaspoon of jam on it, wait a
couple of minutes and run your finger through the centre of the jam drop to
split it in two. If the jam drop stays in two halves and doesn’t run back
together, it’s ready to go. If it’s not ready, boil it for a few more minutes
and try again. At this point you can try and remove the kernels or just leave
them in – they add a nice subtle bitter almond flavour.
Pour the jam into the jars immediately, filling them to the
brim, and screw the lids on. An hour or so later you might hear a satisfying
pop as the vacuum kicks in and sucks in the centre of the lid, sealing the jar
nicely.
The jam can be eaten immediately or stored in the pantry, or
the fridge if you want it to last longer. Keep refrigerated once opened.
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| My chai-spiced plum jam, "smoked" apricot jam, and apricot and vanilla jam |
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