It’s the taste of summer in spreadable form.
Most days of the week I am a healthy breakfast eater: egg whites with spinach, whole grain cereal and almond milk, or some sort of homemade smoothie. However, when I go out to breakfast and splurge two things are key. Do they have good bread for toast, and do they have jam? For those of you that like grape jelly, that’s fine. For me, I want jam with chunks of fruit and lots of flavor. So, when I can make my own at home (and quickly), I can’t wait for the weekend and a breakfast worthy of indulgence.
The original post from August 2016
I have made many batches of jams- blueberry and strawberry among my favorites. There’s nothing quite like picking the fruit at a local farm and coming home for a day of cooking and canning. My husband and I have spent several summer afternoons partaking in this culinary fun. Of course, as anyone who’s done it knows, it also can be a long day with prepping the jars and cleaning the mess.
Over the past couple summers my husband and I haven’t been canning. Our weekends have been filled with different activities, and with only one little chick in the nest, there wasn’t as big of a need for a store of canned goods in our basement. However, I do miss the product of our work fairly often.
I wondered recently if it would be possible to make a small batch of jam that wouldn’t require the canning process. Since it would be a smaller batch, could I make it without needing to use pectin? With a little help from an internet search, I discovered some tips and tricks that helped create today’s recipe.
This jam was so simple to make and was utterly delicious. I personally am a huge fan of apricot jam and found it to be irresistible on a piece of toast. I was able to make a batch in less than 30 minutes, if you don’t count waiting and cooling times. To me that’s a no-brainer. For jam this delicious, it’s worth the effort.
- 1 pound apricots, diced
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 green apple, peeled
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
- Combine apricots and sugar in a medium saucepot; let stand for 1 hour.
- Grate apple.
- Add apple and lemon juice to apricots, and stir.
- Turn heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Once boiling reduce heat to a simmer.
- Stir occasionally for 15-20 minutes or until jam has thickened.
- Remove from heat, and cool completely.
- Transfer to storage container, and refrigerate for up to 30 days.
