Apricot Jam

We’re jamming, we’re jamming, we’re jamming, we’re jamming, I hope you like jamming too…

So, it’s summer, which means the tropical fruits are in season. My favourite time of the year! Plus, there can be nothing better to spread on delicious German bread than homemade jam. I remember each time I would come and visit Germany as a child, my grandmother and all my aunts would pack us home with jars and jars of jams and chutneys. While I am living here I want to make as many of these as I can and when I visit the little village where my family are from, I would love to bring them some of my own jam.

In order to fulfil this dream, we popped to the Turkish market and bought a massive load of fruits. Everything is so cheap. In London you would be lucky to get three or four apricots for £1. Here you can pick up a whole kilo of them for the same price. And they are delicious.

So, no more waiting, here is the recipe:

You will need:

1 kilo apricots
750g sugar
1 lemon (juice)
1 tsp vanilla sugar
4 big sterilised jam jars

I like to have chunky apricot bits in my jam, so I roughly cut the apricots into halves, throw away the seeds and place the fruit into a pot. If you don’t like chunky pieces in your jam, you will need to cut the apricot halves into smaller pieces, but the joy of this recipe is that it is so easy and can be done quickly. Plus the apricots just disintegrate when they are left in sugar, so even with minimal cutting there are only a few chunks left in the jam. We used very very ripe apricots to make the process even easier.

Next, add 350g sugar to the pot, give it all a quick stir and walk away. This is my favourite part. By doing absolutely nothing for about 90 minutes, you are making jam! Yes, that is right, just walk away. You have enough time to watch a film, bake some bread to go with your jam or even go and get your nails done. Just don’t do anything to the pot.

Then put in the leftover 350g of sugar and the vanilla sugar into the pot (yeah, jam is pretty unhealthy but hey – it’s delicious!). Add the juice of the lemon and put the stove on medium heat.

You will need to stir it pretty much constantly as it begins to boil and continue to cook on a medium heat until the sugar becomes see-through. You will end up with a clear orange liquid. It will take about 20 minutes.

When this has happened, you put up the heat and boil the mixture for 15 minutes. During this time DO NOT MIX! Just move away from the liquid. I knew I should not mix it but the temptation was too great. And the jam punished me badly.

When it is boiling just let it do it’s own thing. I mixed and something I would describe as hot lava starting bubbling and spitting and a lump of it landed on my hand. The pain was terrible. Red marks are still there days later. Even though I now call them my apricot jam battle scars, I would recommend just leaving the spoon alone and steering clear. It is only a quarter of an hour after all.

Then you are pretty much finished. You let the mixture cool slightly for about half an hour, grab your sterilised jam jars (stick them in the dishwasher for this) and place the jam lovingly inside.

We managed to get four big sized jam jars full to the brim. Let them cool in the kitchen for a couple of hours or even overnight. Feel free to taste a little (I did… a lot in fact). Sweet and delicious. Then offer your friends a little pot of amazingness and make everyone super impressed. Just don’t mention how easy it is (especially compared to marmalade).
You can even add a little label so you don’t forget what it is, as now you have mastered this I am sure you will be on the jam express and make all kinds of delicious things. Do let me know if you try making it and how it comes out. And send me some if you like…