Thick apricot jam

Recipes for apricot jam for the winter are very diverse and many prefer it to jam because of its uniform consistency and versatility of use.

Secrets of making jams and confitures

Many people love sweets made from berries and fruits with sugar, but not everyone understands the difference between the same jam, preserves, confiture or marmalade. It is often said that this is the same dish, the only difference is in which country it originates from. For example, jam is an original Russian product, confiture comes from France, jam originates from England, more precisely from Scotland, and marmalade comes from Poland.

But these dishes differ in their thickness and often in their manufacturing technology.

Jam, unlike preserves, has a rather dense (jelly-like) consistency. It is traditionally boiled for a longer time.Unlike jam according to the classic recipe, the fruits for making jam are not specially crushed. They turn into a homogeneous mass during heat treatment. But confiture most closely resembles jam, being in fact a variety of it. Special jelly-forming additives are always used to make confiture. Jam can be prepared either with or without their use - in a natural way. Accordingly, you can end up with either a thick confiture or a runny one, more like jam.

Depending on the apricot jam recipe you use for the winter, you choose the degree of ripeness of the fruit. If you make the preparation in the traditional way, without the use of gelling additives, then it is better to take either fully ripe fruits, or even greenish ones. They are famous for their high pectin content, due to which the finished product hardens.

Overripe fruits contain very little pectin, but they are distinguished by increased sweetness, and they are best used for recipes with the addition of pectin or gelatin.

Classic recipes do not provide for chopping apricots, but the pits are always removed. If you break the hard shell, you can extract the nucleoli. In some varieties they are devoid of bitterness. After removing the brown peel, the sweetish kernels can be added to the jam at the last stage of its production. This will give the dish an interesting almond flavor.

In many modern recipes, housewives prefer to grind apricots almost immediately before starting to make jam, using a meat grinder or blender. This is much easier than grinding the product after heat treatment.

Many housewives prefer apricot jam for the winter to all other preparations made from these sunny fruits, since it is universal in use. It is very convenient to spread on bread or crispy toast. Jam makes an excellent layer for pastries and cakes, and finally, it is ideal as a ready-made filling for pies and other baked goods.

Simple apricot jam recipe

For this recipe, you don't need to prepare anything in advance except the apricots and sugar. Only a small amount of butter will come in handy.

Preparing ingredients and utensils

In the traditional recipe, the amount of sugar should be equal in volume to washed and pitted apricots. If you are using sweet and fully ripe fruits, the amount of sugar can be reduced slightly. For example, for 1 kg of pitted apricots, take about 750-800 g of sand.

Fruits are thoroughly washed before cooking, then dried on a paper or linen towel. You don't need any water to make apricot jam. Even excess liquid from the fruit must be removed to obtain the desired consistency of the finished dish.

Apricots are cut into halves and pitted. It is important to choose an enamel or stainless steel pan with a thick bottom for cooking jam. Its shape is also important - wide with low sides, so that it is convenient to stir the dish during cooking.

Cooking process in detail

The process of making jam according to the classic recipe can take you about a day, since first you need to let the apricots sit with sugar.

So, take a pan, grease its bottom with a small amount of butter to prevent the jam from burning later. Then lay out the apricot halves in layers, sprinkling them with sugar.

Cover the pan with a towel and leave overnight. This procedure will help the apricots keep their shape better during the jam making process.

The next day, the sugar will completely dissolve and the fruits will release a lot of juice. Pour off the excess immediately, since if there is a large amount of liquid, the workpiece may not thicken as needed. The fruit should be only lightly covered with juice.

Place the pan with apricots on heat. If the sugar has not had time to completely dissolve overnight, then the fire should be low at first.

After the sugar has completely dissolved, the heat can be increased to maximum. Cook the jam, stirring constantly, for about 15-20 minutes. During the boiling process, it is necessary to remove the resulting foam from the fruit.

The final stage

To test the jam for readiness, place several saucers in the freezer in advance. Now you can take out one saucer and put a little jam on it. If the drop does not spread and some hard surface forms on it, then we can say that the dish is ready.

If such signs are not observed, continue to cook the jam for another 5-10 minutes, then repeat the test. Repeat until you reach the desired consistency.

The jam can be put into sterilized small jars (0.5 l) while still hot and immediately screw on the lids.

Recipe for apricot jam with citric acid

There is a slightly different, faster way to make apricot jam for the winter.

You will need:

• 1 kg of apricots, pitted;
• 1 kg sugar;
• 1 g citric acid or 1 tablespoon lemon juice.

Wash the apricots, remove the seeds and grind them using a blender or meat grinder. Add sugar and citric acid and mix again. Place the pan with apricot puree on heat, bring to a boil and cook for about 20-30 minutes. You should not leave the jam for a long time; it is better to stir it regularly with a wooden spatula so that it does not stick to the bottom.

After the apricot mixture thickens slightly, remove it from the heat, package it in dry, sterilized jars, close with metal lids and store.

Apricot and orange jam without cooking

This recipe will attract fans of healthy food, since the fruits are not cooked at all during the cooking process, which means they retain absolutely all the beneficial substances and vitamins.

Prepare:

• 2 kg apricots;
• 2.5 kg of sugar;
• 2 oranges;
• 1 lemon.

Wash the fruits well under running water and dry. Cut the oranges and lemon into quarters and remove all the seeds.

Then grind them using a blender. Simply cut the apricots in half and remove the pits. After this, they are also crushed with a blender.

Gradually the fruit mass combines with sugar. Everything is thoroughly mixed again. The resulting jam sits for several hours at room temperature until the sugar is completely dissolved.

After which it is packaged in small, pre-sterilized glass jars. To avoid spoilage, add a tablespoon of sugar on top of each container.

This preparation must be stored in the refrigerator.

How to make apricot and apple jam

Apricots go great with apples, as the latter add some sourness to the finished dish. They also provide the necessary amount of pectin for good setting.

Take 1 kg of apricots, wash and remove seeds. Wash 3-4 apples well, separate from the core and cut into 6-8 slices. Prepare a wide pan with a thick bottom, preferably not enameled, but not aluminum either.

Place apricots in a saucepan, add sugar and place over low heat. After the fruits boil and release their juice, add chopped apples to them.

Cook over medium heat for 30-40 minutes, constantly stirring the future jam and removing foam. Then remove the pan from the stove and let it cool slightly.

Take a blender and thoroughly grind the boiled fruit mixture, after which the jam can be placed in sterile jars and rolled up. The taste of the product is very delicate and it is stored well even in room conditions.

Thick apricot jam

If you are not interested in long-term boiling of apricots, then try making them with the addition of one of the types of thickener. The technology for making jam according to these recipes changes little. But during the process, one of the gelling substances is added, which reduces the boiling time of the product and preserves the taste, aroma and beneficial properties of natural apricots.

Apricot jam with gelatin

This jam recipe is one of the most popular.You will need equal amounts of apricots and sugar (1 kg each) and 40 g of gelatin.

The fruits, as usual, are removed from the seeds, sprinkled with sugar and left for several hours to release the juice. After this, they are crushed using a blender and placed on the fire so that after boiling, the apricot mass is boiled for about 30 minutes.

At the same time, the gelatin is poured with a small amount of warm water and left to swell.

After 30 minutes the heating is removed. Swollen gelatin is added to the apricots, the mixture is thoroughly mixed and poured into sterile jars.

Apricot jam recipe with pectin

Pectin can be part of gelling sugar, or can be sold separately. This is a natural vegetable thickener without extraneous aromas and does not change the color of the product.

The proportions for making apricot jam are the same as in the previous recipe - for 1 kg of fruit, take 1 kg of sugar and a bag of pectin.

The manufacturing technology is also very similar. After the mixture of apricots and sugar has been cooked for 10-15 minutes, you need to prepare the pectin. A standard sachet usually contains 10 g of powder. Mix its contents with 2-3 tablespoons of sugar.

Add this mixture to the boiling apricot jam.

Boil apricot jam with pectin for no more than 5 minutes. Then put it in sterile jars, screw it up and store it.

Apricot jam with jellyfix

According to this recipe, apricot jam is prepared using a similar technology, since zhelfix, as well as its numerous counterparts such as jamfix, quittina, contain the same pectin with sugar and often with citric acid. Therefore, it must be added in the same proportions and in the same sequence as pectin. Usually one standard bag of gelfix is ​​used 1:1 in relation to 1 kg of apricots and 1 kg of sugar.

Armenian apricot jam recipe

The Armenian method of making apricot jam differs from the traditional one in only two ways:

• apricots, after removing the seeds, are not crushed, but cut into 4 slices;
• sugar is introduced sequentially, in equal parts, during the cooking process itself.

For 1 kg of apricots, about 900 g of granulated sugar is used.

First, approximately 1/3 of the total amount of sugar prescribed in the recipe is added to the fruit slices. Apricots are brought to a boil. After 10-15 minutes, the second third of sugar is added to the fruit mass. The apricots are boiled for another 20-30 minutes, and the remaining sugar is added to them. After which the workpiece can be boiled for another 5-10 minutes and placed hot in jars.

Apricot jam in a slow cooker

Although preparing apricot jam in a slow cooker is not at all difficult, it is still not recommended to leave the process to the mercy of fate and go about your business. The dish can simply “run away”. For the same reason, it is better to fill the multicooker bowl with apricots and sugar no more than halfway and do not close the lid.

For 500 g of fruit take 0.5 kg of sugar, it is advisable to add 1 tsp. lemon juice.

The first stage is no different from traditional technology.Apricots are washed, separated from the pits, placed in a multicooker bowl and covered with sugar.

Then the “Baking” mode is turned on for 60 minutes and the process begins. The lid must be open - the jam will need to be stirred from time to time. Five minutes before the end of the process, add lemon juice and stir. When the multicooker turns off, the jam is placed in sterile jars.

Secrets of making apricot jam in a bread machine

A bread maker can also make your life a lot easier, especially if you don’t need to make jam in large quantities.

You don't need any special preparation either, but you can experiment with adding different ingredients without spending much effort. After all, the bread machine will do most of the work, especially mixing, for you. The finished portion turns out to be small and you don’t mind if the taste of some batch doesn’t quite suit you.

To get started, you can try using the following recipe. Take 1 kg each of sugar and apricots, 1 lemon and a piece of ginger about 5 cm long.

Grind the fruits along with other ingredients using a meat grinder or blender, place in the bowl of the bread machine, set the “Jam” or “Jam” program, press “Start”.

An hour and a half later, after the device has finished operating, simply open the lid, package the finished product into jars, and the process can be considered complete.

Other apricot jam options

When making jam, do not be afraid to experiment - after all, apricots go well with many other fruits and berries: raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, not to mention citrus fruits.

For spice lovers, it will be tempting to add cinnamon and vanilla.A mixture of cloves, star anise, ginger and bay leaf will help create a unique taste of the finished dish, which can also be used as a sauce for meat and fish dishes.

A variety of nuts go well with apricots, and adding rum or cognac will make the taste of the jam richer and extend its shelf life.

Conclusion

A variety of apricot jam recipes for the winter will allow any housewife to choose the right one for herself and preserve a piece of sunny summer for the cold season.

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