All Things Apricot (Apricot Jam & Apricot Butter)
by Amanda • July 16, 2012 • Canning & Preserving, Dehydrator • 23 Comments
Canning season began with a bang this year in our kitchen, the inaugural day including apricot picking at my neighbor’s home, followed by apricot butter, two jams and dehydration. Since I can’t do things like canning with the kids home for summer with much efficiency, the process began at 9pm and didn’t end until 3am! Needless to say, I’m awfully tired today- please excuse any typos or random nonsensical rambling. I’ll try to stick to the point: yummy apricot recipes.
Round 1: Cinna-Vanilla Apricot Butter
Have you made fruit butter yet? If not, you’re missing out on one of simple joys of canning. We’ve done apple, pear and now apricot butter. We eat it spread on toast, in peanut butter sandwiches, mixed in oatmeal, with yogurt and over ice cream. There aren’t a ton of ingredients and I use minimal sweetener, making it a healthy sweet.
Cinna-Vanilla Apricot Butter
Ingredients:
Apricots- about 10 lbs worth. Wash, peel and take out pit.
Sweetener- Agave, maple or honey to taste. 1/2 to 3/4 c for apricots. (I use a lot less for apples and pears.)
1 Tbl. Cinnamon
1 Vanilla Bean, see this tutorial for a great explanation on how to cook with a vanilla bean
Put apricots into a crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Use an immersion blender to puree the cooked fruit until it is a smooth consistency. (Or put into a blender, but that is just messy. It’s worth getting the immersion blender, trust me.) If it is still watery, leave the lid propped open a tiny bit to let moisture seep out for a bit. Or add water if it is getting too thick. Add sweetener and seasonings. Let it simmer for another hour so the flavors blend in.
Process in a boiling waterbath canner for 20 minutes. Add an extra minute for every 1000 ft about sea level.
If you are new to canning, Ball has great details on the how-to’s of preservation and some great recipes as well. If you don’t want to can it, the apricot butter will keep well in the freezer for months or in the refrigerator for 3 weeks.
Round 2: Dehydration. Super simple, just takes a while.
Wash and halve apricots, remove pit. Lay down on trays. Turn on dehydrator. Rough stuff! Apricots make yummy fruit leather too if you have liners for your dehydrator trays. Just puree fruit, add sweetener if you like and dehydrate.
Round 3: Apricot Jam
I made two variations. The first was just the basic recipe in the Pamona’s Pectin box, using apple juice as the sweetener. It was alright but nothing too special. The second so much fun, a great savory twist on the standard-
Rosemary Apricot Jam!
To make, just follow the directions on the Pamona’s Pectin Box, or find it at their website. You could use other pectin brands too of course. When all ingredients are in your pot heating up to a boil, add 3 Tbl chopped fresh rosemary. That’s it! What a difference it made, a lovely new flavor combination for a fruit I am just beginning to love.
Apricot butter! That sounds so good! And i never would have thought of the rosemary-apricot jam, 3 Tb rosemary was for how much fruit? Yum!
looks so good like my Mum used to make. Great post thank you.
Hooray for mums!
I adore apricot jam and love the idea of making it with rosemary….mmmm!
They are my new love, I can’t count how many I have eaten in the last few days. I feel like I have missed out all my life!
Dude, your canning skillz blow me away. Apricot butter and the rosemary jam look absolutely incredible. Some day when our kids are all in school, you are gonna teach me everything you know! Xoxo
My canning for your cheezemaking- it’s a date.
PS- I learned it all from Amanda if you want to go to the source!
Noted, you can both teach me!
When are you coming for cheezemaking? When do you leave? It’s totally a date!
yeah, are you gone? Did we miss out on apricots due to the absolute insanity of living? We’re unplanned for the whole week, but I know you’re leaving soon. It’s sad to be back to the real world again after a full birthday weekend.
One round of crazy done, next adventure begins tomorrow. We were hit by the coolest thunderstorm ever- I weathered it in the tent! I know, not the safest place, but it hit so fast and it was directly over us so I figured running through the field to a more solid structure wouldn’t exactly be the best idea either. It rained hard, then harder, then even harder and when I thought it wasn’t possible for the heavens to come down any more powerfully- it hailed. So very wet.
This looks so good!!! Makes me wish I had an apricot tree in my backyard!
Or you can just raid your neighbors yard like I did.
we have a couple apple trees but I am wishing for a few more, planting is in the plans for next spring!
Cinnamon – vanilla and apricot – sounds divine and delicious
It smelled sooooo good in the crockpot…. you can’t go wrong with cinnamon.
love the idea of adding rosemary to your apricot butter– I hope I can try this soon, still waiting (impatiently) for the local apricots to come into full season around here!
Let me know how it goes and any changes/other apricot recipes you try!
Great post, we just made a shrub with the blenheims, but want to make butter. Thx for the recipe…
I am so not cool enough to know what a Blenheim is, thank goodness for google.
I want to know your fav recipes too!
Yum!! That looks so good!
WOW so easy to make fruit butters, they always looked so intimidating – I love that you cook it in a crockpot versus on the stove – so easy! I love canning and typically do up applesauce in the fall, apple butter is totally on the agenda this year too!