Apricot Jam with Less Sugar

The orange-colored fruit with a sweet-sour taste is currently in season, and if you have access to a larger quantity of homegrown apricots, dont wait—stock up on sweet jam. For preparation, you need very few ingredients: fresh apricots, sugar, and lemon. For a special flavor and aroma, it is also recommended to add vanilla in the pod.

Details

  • Preparation Time: 20 minutes
  • Cooking Time: 45 minutes
  • Difficulty: 1
  • Spiciness: 0
  • Number of Servings: 5

Ingredients

  • 2 kg Apricot, raw

  • 400 g Sugar, white

  • 1 piece Lemon, fresh, without shell

  • 1 piece Vanilla, extract, natural

  • pieces Seaweed, agar, dried

Steps

  1. Wash the apricots, dry them, and cut off any imperfections. Remove the pits. Cut the apricots into pieces and place them in a pot. Add sugar and mix everything well. Cut the vanilla pod in half and scrape out the seeds with the tip of a knife, adding them along with the pod to the pot with the apricots. If the apricots are not sour enough, add lemon juice (to taste).

  2. Mix the ingredients in the pot well so that all the sugar dissolves and wait for the jam to come to a boil. Once it boils, reduce the heat and cook the jam over moderate heat, stirring constantly, for about 40 minutes. After 20 minutes of cooking, remove the vanilla pod.

  3. While the jam is cooking, sterilize the jars and lids. First, wash them thoroughly with detergent and water, then dry them completely, place them on a baking tray, and put them in the oven preheated to 100°C for about 15 minutes. This will further sterilize them.

  4. Once all the foam has disappeared from the jam, use an immersion blender to blend the jam. If you prefer, you can leave small pieces of apricots whole. It's up to your preference.

  5. Perform a gel test: if the jam is too runny, cook it a bit longer to thicken, or use a natural gelling agent like agar agar for thickening.

  6. Hold the hot jars with a clean cloth and fill them with the prepared jam. Seal them tightly, wrap them in a blanket, and let them cool slowly—preferably overnight.

Nutrition Information (Per 100g)

  • Calories: 103.3 kcal
  • Fat: 0 g
    • Saturated Fat: 0 g
  • Carbohydrates: 25.25 g
    • Sugars: 23.5 g
  • Protein: 0.81 g
  • Fiber: 1.67 g

Advice

The most important thing is to use very ripe apricots for making the jam, of course, unsprayed and homegrown. The riper they are, the sweeter they are (less sugar is needed) and the more pectin they contain (which helps in thickening).