The breakfast at our hotel in Turkey was probably one of the best things about that place. On the patio overlooking the ocean we enjoyed fresh fruits, huge slices of soft tomatoes, olives, bread, and an impressive line-up of home made fruit preserves. The jams quickly became our go to on the breakfast table and by the end of our stay we’d tried our way through them all and concluded that – although they were all delicious – the apricot flavour was definitely our favourite.
Of course, I couldn’t leave without securing a recipe. Lucky for me the hotel staff were kind enough to explain their jamming method to me. Tried and tested (with my personal tweaks), I feel honoured to pass it on to you now. The recipe is simple but takes some patience and work. It’s worth every drop of effort.
Apricot Jam
500 g apricots
500 g sugar (I used a mix of 150g coconut sugar, 100g muscovado sugar, 150g raw cane sugar, and 100g white sugar)
Method
Clean and chop the apricots into chunky pieces. Place in a bowl and sprinkle the sugar over the fruits, mix and then cover the bowl with cling film. Let rest in room temperature for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours.
Once your fruits have marinated in the sugar, place in a heavy bottomed sauce pan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let it bubble for about 1-2 hours (until you reach desired consistency), keep an eye on it and stir it regularly so that it doesn’t burn to the bottom of the pan. Once you’ve reached a consistency that you’re pleased with, pull it off the heat.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and carefully lower your empty jar into it, boil for 10 minutes. Remove from the boiling water ans spoon the jam into the hot jar, screw the lid on and then tip the jar upside down to seal it in. Let sit in room temperature until completely cool.
Try it on freshly baked bread, spread with a thin layer of tahini topped with the apricot jam.
