Spiced Apricot Jam

  I love fruit, but my favorites are stone fruit: peaches, plums, and apricots. They are juicy, sweet, and perfect during the hot summers. After getting a big box of apricots, I decided to make apricot jam. It's not uncommon for my dad and I to finish off a jar of jam in a week or two so I thought it was a good idea.

  For a few years, I went up to Kansas with my grandparents for harvest in the summer and stayed with the family who farmed the land. Bob, who was like another grandpa to me would always save a small amount of wheat so he could make his homemade wheat bread, which tasted nothing like the stuff you get from the store. One of the guys who worked for Bob had a small patch of land that they had in town to use as a small garden for the neighborhood and his wife made the most amazing peach jam from the peaches she grew and it went perfectly with Bob's homemade bread. I could have lived off that bread and jam for the entire 2 weeks
I was there and still have wanted more.
  I plan of learning more about canning so when it's time for the farmer's markets to open, we can made more spreads, pickle, and preserve summer's best so we can enjoy it all year around. 

   This recipe doesn't have as much sugar as other recipes I've seen where it was anywhere from 1 1/2-3 1/2 cups per pound. And that just seems like way too much sugar for me, but you can add more sugar if you want to your batch. 

The jam is sweet, slightly tart, and has a subtle hint of spice from the clove and cinnamon.

     It's like sunshine in a jar.

 Apricot sunshine. 

Yum!

Homemade jams, spreads, and pickled items make great gifts especially if you make a giant batch. 

Spiced Apricot Jam

                                                Created by Rayna of Curious Country Cook

yields: about 5 cups

3 lbs apricots, cleaned, pitted, and halved
3-4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 3/4 cups white sugar*
2 cinnamon sticks
1 whole clove
about 4 tbsp water


1. Place the apricots, and water in a large pit and cook for a few minutes on medium heat. 
2. After 15 minutes, add in the sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and clove and lower the heat to medium-low and stir every few minutes, let the fruit cook down.  
3. When the jam has simmered for about 60 minutes, take out the plate from the freezer and place a drop of the jam on the plate. If it runs, cook it for five more minutes and then test it again. But if becomes solid, then the jam is done.
4. Portion the jam into sterilized jars (I used 5- 8oz jars) and seal. Once the jam becomes room temperature, place the jam into the fridge. 


Notes: 
*The amount of sugar I used compared to what is in most recipes is very little. Most recipes that I've seen use 1-3 1/2 cups of sugar per lb. of fruit.  If you want, you can add in more sugar, but I liked how the spice and natural sweetness of the fruit came out in this jam.