TOP 8 recipes for making apricot jam in slices for the winter
Many people love apricots, but, unfortunately, they are not on sale in winter. Therefore, to enjoy the taste of your favorite fruits all year round, you can make jam from apricot slices. Even a novice housewife can cope with this if she follows the recipe proportions, instructions, does not overdo it and does not overcook the dessert. To revive the taste of the delicacy, clove, cinnamon, vanilla or any other spice is added during cooking.
The subtleties of cooking apricot jam in slices for the winter
At home, the delicacy is prepared in one or more steps, a long cooking option is preferable, since in this case you can be sure that the fruits are not boiled and are well saturated with sugar syrup. To keep the fruits whole, experienced housewives boil the workpiece over low heat, with regular stirring and removing the foam.
A very extraordinary taste of the dessert is obtained when berries and fruits are added, however, such experiments should be approached with caution due to the different density of products or their incompatibility. It is necessary to choose products of the same hardness and ripeness to obtain a good consistency..
How to choose and prepare fruits for harvesting?
Apricot jam will be very tasty only if you buy ripe and beautiful fruits for its preparation, from the pulp of which bones come out well. When buying such a product, you should pay special attention to the fact that the surface of the fruit is completely bright orange, because if the apricot is slightly greenish, you will get a very coarse jam, with hard and fibrous pieces.
When the product is purchased, the apricots are thoroughly washed and dried on a paper towel. Then they should be halved and the bone removed.
Preparing containers for the start of the process
Submerging glass jars in boiling water is a standard sterilization method, but height affects the temperature at which water boils, as taller jars lower the boiling point of water. For this reason, it is necessary to adjust the time that the glass container spends in boiling water.
The basic boil time for cans up to 30.5 centimeters high is 10 minutes, but add one extra minute of boiling for every 30.5 centimeters increase in height.
How long should you cook?
The answer to this question depends on the recipe chosen and the amount of sugar used.Since the more sand is included in the recipe, the less time it takes to prepare it, since granulated sugar is a preservative.
The most common way among housewives is to cook a treat 5 minutes after the liquid has boiled. But such a blank should be stored only in the refrigerator, otherwise the cans will not stand for a long time due to the fact that the product ferments.
So that the finished product does not ferment, and the fruit is well saturated with sweet syrup, it is necessary to observe the time intervals for preparing the dessert given in the recipe as accurately as possible.
How to make apricot jam in slices at home?
Apricots for dessert can be used both varietal and wild, as long as they are with dense pulp and not overripe. The readiness of the syrup can be determined by its density and color: it should be golden and slightly viscous.
Simple method
To get a transparent delicacy with an amazing taste, you should choose slightly unripe fruits that will withstand the heat treatment process. For cooking you will need:
- 2 kilograms of fruit;
- 2 kilograms of granulated sugar.
Based on the sweetness of the fruit, the amount of sugar is increased, but not more than doubled.
The slices are laid out in a stainless steel basin, sprinkled with sugar and placed in a cool place for half a day. This will allow the jam to cook in its own juice. If there is no time, then drinking water is poured into the workpiece (one glass per kilogram of sand).
The filled container is put on high heat and, with regular stirring, brought to a boil. The foam that appears on the surface is removed, the gas is turned off, the workpiece is left for 10 hours.
After the time has elapsed, the amber delicacy is brought to a boil, languishes for 15 minutes and removed from the heat. Ready jam is poured into glass containers, turned over and covered with a terry towel until it cools.
Five minutes
The name "Pyatiminutka" is very misleading, as a good delicacy cannot be prepared in five minutes. To cook apricot jam with clear syrup and rich taste, several cooking steps are required.
First, the fruit is infused with sugar for 8-10 hours to release the juice, and then boiled three times for five minutes with a three-hour break between each boil.
This jam is best made with a slightly unripe apricot (not green!). It is in this case that the maximum purity of the syrup and the integrity of the fruit are ensured.
For "Pyatiminutka" jam you will need:
- 1 kilogram of fruit;
- 1 kilogram of white sugar;
- 1 glass of water for a liquid treat.
On the bottom of the enamel bowl, a layer of fruit halves is laid out in "boats" and sprinkled with sugar, then the second layer is distributed and sugar again. The layers are repeated one by one until the ingredients are finished.
The saucepan is covered with a lid and left overnight to let the fruit juice. To obtain liquid jam, water is poured into the apricots, or the filled container is immediately placed on the stove and brought to a boil.
The workpiece is prepared for 5 minutes and removed from heat. The procedure is repeated three times, each time the apricot jam is brought to a boil. Boiling removes foam from the surface.
The finished product hot is poured into glass containers, sealed and turned over for one day.
Nucleoli recipe
Required products:
- 3 kilograms of white sugar;
- 2 kilograms of ripe fruits;
- 1 glass of drinking water.
The fruit halves are laid out in an enamel bowl. Kernels are taken from the apricot kernels with a hammer and poured into the slices along with granulated sugar. The ingredients are mixed.
If you cook a delicacy quickly, then water is poured into the bowl so that the free-flowing product melts faster and does not burn to the bottom.If you cook apricot jam with kernels without water, you should leave the mixture until the fruit begins to give out juice.
The bowl with the workpiece is placed on a quiet fire and brought to a boil. After that, the sweet product, with constant stirring, languishes for another 7-11 minutes, and then is poured into glass containers, sealed, turned over and wrapped up for one day.
With cinnamon and rum
Thanks to the aromatic products included in the recipe, the delicacy acquires a unique taste and aroma. Therefore, without exaggeration, this dessert can be called "Tsar's jam".
For cooking you will need:
- 2 kilograms of seedless fruit;
- 450 milligrams of drinking water;
- 1 kilogram of granulated sugar;
- 150 grams of apricot kernels;
- 1 cinnamon stick;
- 100 milligrams of quality rum or liqueur.
Water, rum, granulated sugar are poured into the bowl. The mixture is put on fire and, with constant stirring, brought to a boil. After dissolving the loose substance, a cinnamon stick is thrown into the syrup, apricot kernels are added; cooking continues for another 5 minutes. After removing from the stove, the fragrant liquid is left to cool down to room temperature.
Fruit slices are dipped in chilled syrup, mixed, covered with a lid and left for half a day to soak. After the time has elapsed, the delicacy is put on low heat and brought to a boil. After boiling for a couple of minutes, the gas is turned off. The cooking process is repeated two more times.
When the fruit is boiled for the third time, a cinnamon stick is removed from the syrup, the hot jam is poured into a prepared glass container, sealed and left wrapped in an inverted state until it cools.
With walnuts
This is not only a delicious delicacy, but also a natural vitamin "bomb". For cooking you will need:
- 1.5 kilograms of fruit slices;
- 1.1 kilograms of sugar;
- 500 grams of walnut kernels.
The apricot wedges are placed in a thick-bottomed pot and covered with sand. The mixture is left overnight.
The container is put on fire, the mixture is brought to a boil. The foam that appears on top is removed, cooking lasts up to 10 minutes. The fire is turned off, the dessert is left for 3 hours. The process is repeated two more times.
While the treat is cooling down, the nuts are prepared. They need to be cleaned of film and partitions. If you pour boiling water over the kernels for a quarter of an hour, the skin will be removed much easier.
The bowl with the mixture is put on fire for the last time and brought to a boil. After which the kernels are poured in, the jam is cooked for about 25 minutes more.
Before pouring, the jam is thoroughly mixed. It is better to taste the dessert in a month. During this time, the nuts are saturated with sweetness and become surprisingly tasty.
With oranges
To make apricot jam with an orange hint, you need the following ingredients:
- 500 grams of orange pulp;
- 500 milligrams of water;
- 5 kilograms of apricots, halved;
- 4 kilograms of sugar.
Chopped citrus pulp is placed in an enamel container, filled with water and simmered over low heat until it becomes soft. After that, the apricot halves are added. The piece is cooked until the fruit is soft and begins to decay.
Then sugar is poured into the fruit mixture and the temperature gradually rises until the delicacy reaches the boiling point. The gas is reduced, the jam languishes for at least 30 minutes with constant stirring.
The finished product is poured into sterilized jars, sealed, placed upside down and wrapped for a day to cool.
In a multicooker
Among housewives, the method of creating blanks using a multicooker is becoming more and more popular. This is due to the fact that the device significantly saves cooking time. Of course, you can't cook a lot of delicacies in it, since the volume of the bowl will not allow you to do this.
Also, smart technology has one more feature - if you cook jam with the lid open, it will turn out to be quite thick. If the cooking process proceeds with the lid closed, the finished dish will have liquid syrup. This is due to the fact that steam will collect on the lid of the multicooker and flow back into the jam.
To prepare one portion of the workpiece you will need:
- half a kilogram of peeled apricots;
- half a lemon;
- 300 grams of white sugar.
The fruit halves are laid out in the bowl of the appliance, the juice is squeezed out of half a lemon. The ingredients are covered with sugar and mixed. The multicooker is switched on at the temperature mode "stewing" or "baking". 60 minutes is enough to prepare the treat. It is worth mentioning that when cooking in the "baking" mode, the appliance must be open.
In order for the pieces of fruit not to stick to the bottom and not burn (which will ruin the delicacy), they must be regularly mixed during the cooking process. The finished jam is immediately poured into steamed jars, rolled up, put upside down and covered with a blanket for one day.
Without water
Ingredients for cooking dessert without using water:
- 1.7 kilograms of not too soft apricots;
- 5 cups granulated sugar;
- juice of 2 lemons.
The fruit halves are placed in a stainless steel bowl, sand and lemon juice are added to them. The mixture is allowed to sit for 2 hours, which will give the fruit time to release its juice.
The saucepan is put on low heat and heated until the powder dissolves and the apricot pulp softens. Then the fire increases, the jam is brought to a boil, cooked with constant stirring for 7-10 minutes.
After the allotted time, the thick delicacy is removed from the fire and left to "rest" for a quarter of an hour. Then it is stirred and poured into warm steamed jars.
Further storage of treats
Delicious jam is completely ready to use the very next day after heat treatment. The shelf life of the jam depends on the storage method and the amount of sugar contained in the product.
So, when stored in the refrigerator, a sealed apricot dessert will last until the next fruit season. The time interval for storing blanks in a cool pantry varies from 6 to 12 months.
