Our French style apricot jam is all-natural with real fruits.
This apricot jam has some really cool uses, and I'm demystifying it all in this recipe.
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Ingredient Notes
- Apricots — You can use fresh or frozen apricots to make your own batch of homemade jam.
- Sugar — You just need plain sugar to get this jam right.
- Lemon — Fresh untreated (no pesticides) lemon because the lemon is freshly juiced and the clean lemon halves are thrown into the jam. You don't want pesticides in your jam. In doubt, or if the lemon is not untreated, keep the lemon in some lukewarm water with a dash of vinegar and scrub it well. Lemon skin contains plenty of natural pectin, which helps in setting and preserving the jam naturally.
How to make Apricot Jam?
Step 1
Wash fruits, cut open to take out seed core.
Place fruits with sugar, lemon juice, and lemon halves into a large cooking pot.
Mix and heat up.
Step 2
Bring to a rolling boil and leave to simmer until set.
Take out lemon halves, discard. Blend jam.
Step 3
Test if set. The jam shouldn't run.
Pour hot jam into clean sterilized jars.
📖 Recipe
Apricot Jam Recipe
Instructions
- Rinse apricots to get rid of impurities. Cut open and pick out and discard the core. Weigh apricots.2.2 pounds Apricot, 3½ cups Sugar, 1 lemon
- Cut the lemon into two and juice it. Keep the lemon halves.
- Place apricots with sugar, lemon juice and lemon halves into a large pot and heat up.
- Keep on high to medium heat. Bring the jam to a rolling boil (lots of foam) then take down the heat and simmer slowly. Stir occasionally.
- Cook down the jam until the fruits appear glossy and a bit translucent.
- Take out lemon halves and discard. Blend jam to desired consistency.
- Test if the jam is set by dropping hot jam on an ice-cold plate, the jam is ready if it doesn't run. If it runs, keep for some more time to cook on low heat and repeat the test until you have the correct consistency (stir and cook over low heat because jam will jump up). AND/OR use a candy thermometer. It sets at 220° Fahrenheit/ 105° Celsius.
- Fill your clean sterilized jam jars with the apricot jam up to the rim, close well with the lid and turn the jar upside down. Keep them upside down until you can touch them (they are hot!).
- Store in a cool and dry place, away from direct sunlight.
Notes
- 1 serving = 1 Teaspoon, 70 servings are approximately 3–4 jars.
- use fresh or frozen apricots. Don't use canned fruits because it contains sugars, and it's hard to tell how much. I don't peel my apricots because this jam gets blended at the end. You can peel yours if you like, but it's extra work.
- Be careful to not overcook your jam. Overcooked jam is stone-hard when cooled down. Hot jam is always liquid, and that's misleading. Hence, why you need to do the ice-cold plate test or use a candy thermometer (see in instructions).
- Store jam in a dry and cool place and keep away from direct sunlight. If you live in a humid tropical climate, please store the jam in the fridge.
Equipment
- 3-4 Jars (10z/300ml) with lids
Nutrition
Safety precautions
I have listed a set of important steps if you want to make jam at home. The same steps apply to all the jam recipes on my website.
Please follow all the steps.
During the preparation
Always use fresh ripe fruit and never ever add rotten fruit pieces to your jam. It would reduce the shelf life of your jam.
You have to make sure that the jam has set, and you will know that by either doing the ice-cold plate test and/or by checking the thermometer.
If the jam is not set, it won't be good for long and that beats the purpose of preserving fruits, right?
Drop some hot jam on an ice-cold plate. If it doesn't run, it's set.
The Thermometer setting temperature is 220 Fahrenheit/ 105 Celsius. (use a candy thermometer)
After cooking
Always use a clean, sterilized jar with a rust-free lid.
You can sterilize jars by cooking them in water or in the oven. That kills off all the germs.
The French way is to fill the jam up to the lid, close the jar with the lid tight, and to quickly turn it upside down to create a vacuum.
This is a reliable method in Europe, and we even sell our jam on the farmers market.
Just know that the FDA in the US recommends to further sterilize the full jam in the jar by doing the water bath canning technique. You can do that if you like, I don't do it because it hasn't been necessary.
Storing
The Jam is good for over 10 months if you follow my instructions and work in a clean environment.
Keep the jars in a dry and cool place away from direct sunlight, on a shelf in your pantry, or similar.
Flavor Variations
I love pepping up my fruit preserve, and you can do that too without much extra effort. You can add the following to your French apricot jam during the cooking process:
- habanero or other peppers to make it hot
- vanilla extract to round it up
- green cardamom to add a complimentary spice
- cinnamon if you like this spice
- make it with another fruit such as raspberry, peach, pear to just name a few. Just keep the fruit quantity sugar ratio.
Uses
Apricot Jam has more uses than any other preserve.
Of course, spreading it over your breakfast bread is always a great option, but you can also add it to your yogurt or mix it into your overnight oats.
Apricot jam is used as a pastry filling, as in doughnuts (Krapfen in German countries) or in Danish pastries. It goes well with fresh cheese.
Traditionally, the jam is used as an important cake glaze in Viennese Torte cakes.
The jam is diluted with water before it's spread over a baked cake. The icing that is poured over remains glossy. This is how the Sacher Torte, Esterhazy Torte, and e.g. this coffee cake are made.
Apricot jam makes a great ingredient in sauces, as in BBQ sauce or in dipping sauces. Mac Donald's Sweet and sour sauce is made of apricot jam.
One of my all-time favorite ways to enjoy this jam is over-baked brie. So good!!!
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