One of the most versatile preserves, apricot jam is perfect for filling your cakes, to accompany cheeses or simply spread on a slice of bread and butter. Because every occasion is good to taste an apricot jam made by you!
Apricot jam it is one of the best and most versatile preserves among all those that can be prepared. It is often thought that the preparation of preserves is a long and laborious job: actually, the satisfaction which they procure is far greater respect to fatigue necessary to do them. And then the taste of being able to enjoy even in the winter months the sweetness of these fruits is unmatched. In reality, the greatest attention goes to the procedures for the sterilization of jars which you will need for preserving. The rest, from the choice of the raw material, which must be of excellent quality, to the actual processing, is fun. The recipe we propose is of an apricot jam without added sugari, in which the apples will give the right consistency to the mixture and the right degree of sweetness, without the cloying very often given by the granulated sugar. For the proportions, calculate 1 apple for every 500 g of fruit.
The choice of apricots
Apricots they are a delicious fruit that ripens just in these months. For a perfect jam, then choose ready apricots and not unripe, which would give a sour taste to the preserves, intact, without any dent on the skin. Their consistency must be firm and in cleaning them check that they have not been attacked by pests.
Sterilization of jars
It is always a very important moment: tasting hand-made preserves must be a "safe" pleasure, without health risks. So first take your jars and put them in a pan full of water. Check that they are completely submerged, bring to a boil and let them be sterilized for 1 hour. Then remove them from the water and fill them with freshly made jam, leaving 1 cm empty from the edge. Close each jar with a stopper you will have purchased new, put each jar back in the same pot of water e boil for about 30 minutes, wrapping each can in a cloth, to prevent it from breaking. After the 30 minutes check that the vacuum has formed: if, pressing on the cap, you will feel the classic "Click-clack", you will have achieved the desired effect, otherwise continue with the boiling.
Apricot jam recipe (without added sugar)
Ingredients: 2 kg of ripe apricots, 4 apples, the juice of a lemon, two vanilla sticks
Method: wash the apricots, dry them, peanut them and cut them into small pieces. Take the apples, wash them, peel them and cut them into small pieces. Put all the fruit in a large saucepan, add the lemon juice, the vanilla sticks and cook over a low heat for an hour, until apricots and apples have crumbled and become a homogeneous compound. Remove the vanilla sticks and pour the still-boiling jam in sterilized jars, close with the cap and put each container back on the fire in a pot full of water to form the vacuum. Let it cool and then place each jar in the pantry. Wait at least a month before consuming the jam. Once the jar is opened, the jam is kept in the fridge for a week.
