”and how I enjoy it for my favourite breakfast.”
I love making apricot jam at the end of the summer. This small batch of apricot jam helps me capture the last essence of summer. Its bright, golden, warm orange colour, its smell and aroma bring the gentle breath of late summer.
It has become one of my favourite late summer rituals once we’re back from holidays.
It is a rather effortless and inexpensive kitchen project, but any effort is worth it, as homemade jam tastes entirely different to anything shop-bought. Apricot jam has always been my favourite; as a child, I watched my mother fill jar after jar. I’ve learnt that the only way to enjoy the process is to scale it to manageable quantities, only one kilogram of apricots to start with.
I take all the precautions to make sure that my jam will not go bad. I sterilise the jars and, from this quantity of apricots, you will only get three small to medium jars. I always keep jam in the fridge, and I haven’t seen it go bad so far.
My favourite Icelandic breakfast
We lived in Iceland for some time, and certain flavours still transport me back instantly. Fresh bread generously buttered, topped with Gouda cheese and good jam, still feels like one of life’s simplest pleasures.
I love to treat myself, from time to time, to a slice of sourdough — toasted or freshly baked — generously buttered with my homemade butter or your favourite. Add a few slices of cheese and a generous spoonful of good-quality jam. Apricot always suits beautifully, particularly if it’s homemade. Make a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy.
Delicious Homemade Apricot Jam for a Perfect Breakfast
Delicious Homemade Apricot Jam for a Perfect Breakfast
And how I enjoy it for my favourite breakfast.
For three medium jars
Ingredients and equipment:
- 1 kg ripe apricots
- 200g caster sugar (or jam sugar, if preferred)
- Large, heavy‑based saucepan
- 3 medium glass jars with lids, washed and sterilised
- Food thermometer (optional, but helpful)
- Clean tea towel or small blanket, to cushion the jars as they cool
How to prepare jars for jam:
- Wash the jars and lids in the washing machine or by hand with soap
- While the jam is cooking, preheat the oven to 100°C.
- Place the jars on a tray and leave them in the oven for half an hour.
- Turn the oven off, but keep the jars warm until you are ready to fill them, so they stay warm.
- If your lids have rubber seals, simmer them in a small pan of water for 10 minutes instead of putting them in the oven, as dry heat can crack the rubber.
instructions:
- Wash and rinse the apricots, then cut them into quarters and remove the stones.
- In a large mixing bowl or directly in your heavy‑based saucepan, combine the apricots with the sugar.
- Leave the fruit to macerate for about 1 hour, stirring once or twice, until the apricots have softened and the sugar has mostly dissolved.
- Place the pan over medium‑low heat and cook the jam gently, stirring often. It will turn quite liquid at first before gradually thickening.
- While the jam simmers, finish sterilising the jars in the oven as described above.
- Because this is a small batch, the jam will thicken relatively quickly. Use a potato masher to break up any large pieces of fruit and help the jam come together.
- When the temperature reaches 100-105°C, the jam has reached setting point and is ready.
- Carefully remove the warm jars from the oven, fill them with the hot jam, seal tightly, then wrap them in a clean tea towel or small blanket to cool slowly.
- Once the jars have cooled completely, transfer them to the fridge the next morning. You could keep them in a cool, dark pantry until opened, but for this small batch I prefer the fridge
ENJOY.
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