Apricot jam - a delicious winter treat

You must agree that each of us is pleased to sit in a warm kitchen or by the stove on a cold winter evening and open a jar of aromatic dessert for tea. You can spread on a fresh bun, flavored with a piece of butter, or you can just scoop up a spoon and drink with a freshly brewed drink. Such pleasant winter goodies include apricot jam. It has an unsurpassed, refined, truly summer aroma and relish, for which it is rightly appreciated both in the Russian outback and in large cities, wherever there is an opportunity to buy or pick apricots. Let’s and we try to cook?

Apricot jam

The cooking process itself is quite lengthy and time-consuming. But those housewives who are used to making jam from fruits and berries for the winter will certainly not feel much difference, although there are still differences in the methods of preparation. Apricot jam - not jam, it is more uniform, thick and jelly-like. Many people make jam from these fruits by pulling a seed from apricots and dividing them into two equal halves (for which they take not quite ripened fruits). To make apricot jam, on the contrary, you can take already quite ripe apricots (but not rotted), kneading them into a kind of gruel. Here we are no longer talking about the integrity and beauty of the fruit.

Step-by-step instruction

1. The first step is to prepare the fruits for cooking. We rinse them thoroughly in running water. If they were collected from the ground, then perhaps there is dust and dirt on them that must be washed off. We inspect the fruit for pests that can be on the surface and inside. We take out a bone from apricots. We remove the rotten places.
   
2. For each kilogram of fruit already prepared, you need to take a pound of sugar and a pinch of citric acid (you can replace the juice with half a lemon). Some housewives also add to the brew 20 grams of vanillin per 1 kg of the main product. But, as a rule, apricot jam is cooked in a basin for the winter. Therefore, immediately measure out the amount of ingredients defined by the recipe.
3. Previously, such types of conservation were cooked in large copper basins. In modern kitchens, such dishes are unlikely to be found. So we’ll use the largest pan that is (for example, a ten-liter pan, in which jelly is usually cooked for the New Year).
4. To cook a thick apricot jam, lay out a measured number of prepared fruits in a saucepan and put on a small fire.
5. Cooking under a closed lid. Let the fruit boil a little, let the juice flow and soften.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and cool. Next, you need to try to peel each fruit. Of course, this looks a little time-consuming, but the end product will turn out to be very homogeneous.
7. Grind the apricots through a sieve (this step is also taken to achieve the most uniform goodies).
8. We put the pan back on the fire and evaporate the mass, periodically stirring with a large wooden spoon for half an hour. Add sugar, kneading on the smallest fire, until it is completely dissolved, and the product does not thicken. In the final we introduce the acid of lemon and vanillin.
   

Billet

Further, in order to prepare apricot jam for the winter, it is necessary to sterilize glass jars and lids according to the standard scheme. A hot jam pour into containers and roll up the machine. Set inverted jars in a dark and dry place, wrapping a blanket on top. Leave for three days to insist. After that, you can eat it.

Option in a slow cooker

Apricot jam in a slow cooker (jam) is prepared according to the same rules as on the stove. At least all ingredients remain the same. It is rather an option, so to speak, for the lazy.

1. Preliminary preparation of the fruit is carried out, as in the first version (see paragraph 1).
2. Prepared apricots are poured into a blender and chopped into a homogeneous mass.
3. We spread it in a multicooker bowl and fill in a measured amount of sugar (remember: 400-500 grams per 1 kg of apricots).
4. We turn on the "Jam" mode and cook, stirring, before the device turns off.
5. We lay out the finished jam in sterilized jars. Roll up. We clean upside down in a dark place, wrapping it tightly. After a couple of days, you can eat delicious jam.

Option in the bread maker

How to cook apricot jam (jam) in a bread machine? Which of the housewives has this magic device at their disposal, in addition to the usual breads and pastries, they can also make jam there. For these purposes, we prepare the fruits and measure the right amount of sugar. Grind pitted apricots until smooth in a blender. We spread the mass in the oven bucket and mix with sugar. Let stand for about an hour. We put the bucket in the kitchen device and turn on the "Jam" mode. After the signal of readiness, we preserve according to the standard scheme.

Some tips: how to make apricot jam

• If you jam or jam in a slow cooker or a bread machine, then you need to take into account the volume of the bowl of the device and fill it only 3/4.
• 10-15 minutes before the final, add the juice of half a lemon for every kilogram of the main product.
• Some housewives, to make the jam even thicker, add pectin or gelatin (10 g per 1 kg of apricots) to the mass (10 minutes before the end of cooking).
• Readiness can be determined by putting a spoon of jam on a clean plate. If it does not spread and retains its shape, then it is done!
• Calorie jam (for people watching their weight and figure) - 240-250 kcal / 100 grams. It is considered quite useful: although there are practically no vitamins left after cooking, there are pectins and microelements that have a beneficial effect on the body.