Apricot Vanilla Jam

So, as I was growing up my mom would make two kinds of jams every year.

One with apricots and the second one with giarmades a type of peach that was way sweet and tasty.. Strawberries were too expensive at the time to turn them into a jam..

So I will always remember those two days a year that the whole house would smell of these fruit and and also remember collecting the seeds of the apricots because we used them to make a liquor out of them and for two more reasons. One was to put a kernel of the seed in each jam container as it gave a slight bitter taste to the jam and also we would make a whistle out of one by rubbing it on a stone. After a lot of rubbing a little hole was created and if you blew inside it it would resonate with the seed and make a whistling sound.

So, this is the jam I will be making today. I will add a kernel in each jar I will use but also I will add some vanilla because it really goes beautifully with the fruit…

So, let;s see what we will need!

Diffuculty: 1 of 3

Duration:20 mins prep, a few hours wait and 40 minutes cooking

Serves:3 jars

Ingredients

1 kilo of fruit

600 g of plain sugar

1 vanilla bean

2-3 tblspn of Agourida or Lemon juice

Method

So, I really enjoy my jams to be on the tart side. My mother used a ratio of 1:1 between fruit and sugar but now that you store the jam in the fridge you can omit some of that sugar.

So, I usually start with half of the amount of sugar and if need be I will add some more. It all depends on how ripe are the fruit.

In general when I make a jam I like to buy fruit that are at their best. Ripe and wonderful… Best fruit turn into the best jam.

So, after we buy fruit and bring them home you wash them and remove seeds. If you like you can cut the fruit in half.

Then you put the fruit in a bowl with the sugar… and using your hand you squeeze them all together. Try to mash as much as possible getting as much juice as possible from the fruit to mix with the sugar.

Cover and keep in the fridge for a few hours.

Transfer the mixture to a pot and boil for a few minutes till the sugar melts. Remove from the fire, let it cool and store it in a bowl in the fridge all night.

Next day transfer to a deep pot and bring to the boil. Skim any scum that surfaces if needed.

Now it is the time to add the vanilla. If you add it early it will come to the surface and you will remove it with the scum. Not a way to waste a vanilla bean. smash open a few seeds and keep the kernels.

Add a kernel in each jar.

When the jam sets or reaches 104-105 celsius stir in the agourida or lemon juice, remove from the heat and transfer the jam CAREFULLY in the jars.. It is really REALLY hot.

Let them cool and keep them in the fridge.