Getting Ready for Christmas - All Things Dried Apricots

I like Dried Apricots. I use them in Muesli, Granola, wine making, chutney and there is an ice cream recipe I use too.  Some also go into the Christmas pudding and the Christmas cake, not forgetting the Mincemeat. 

At the moment, I have a load of Dried Apricots which are near their use by date and so need using up. Therefore in the interests of "Waste Not Want Not", I have decided to turn some of them into home made Dried Apricot Jam.  Why, well you see there is an ulterior motive here, not one that you might necessarily be aware of straight away however it is needed.  That or sieved Marmalade!  Apricot jam is a staple of my Christmas/Yearly Pantry.  Dried Apricots have a more concentrated flavour than fresh ones, although fresh Apricot jam is nice.

Let me explain.  Fruit cakes need Apricot jam or (in the absence thereof if you really cannot stand Apricot jam) sieved Marmalade to adhere/Glue the Marzipan under-layer to the fruit cake. All you need to do is put some jam in a sieve if there are pieces of fruit in it and sieve the solids away then gently add to a saucepan and heat through.  Do not boil.  You are then ready to "glue the cake" then add the Marzipan. Quite often Apricot jam is expensive and a lot of people are loath to buy it as they are not fans.  However married with a good homemade Fruit cake it blends in wonderfully.  Then  you pop on either Fondant icing on top of the Marzipan or use traditional Royal Icing which is my choice of icing, which takes a little more time and effort, but which I think is a more superior finish and I think it also adds something to the Christmas cake.

I use Apricot jam in any event and not only do I use it for fruit cakes but for serving with warmed Croissants for breakfast of a morning as well.  Also lovely on toast and in jam tarts.

This is the recipe I am using today however there are many more available either in books or on the Internet.

This one is from BBC Good Food

Link is here:

Dried Apricot Jam

There are also all sorts of other Apricot recipes scattered throughout this Blog some of the links are below but not all of them.  Just type in "Apricot" in the Search bar and all the options should show up.

Here is one for Fresh Apricots

Fresh Apricot Jam

Fresh Apricot and Amaretto Conserve

This is lovely.  However my personal stance is to please err on the side of caution when it comes to adding the Amaretto as it can be quite over-powering.  Only a little is required.

Link is here:

Fresh Apricot and Amaretto Conserve

Using Dried Apricots to firstly make a wine and secondly out of the pulp make a Chutney so not wasting anything.

Link is here:

Dried Apricot Wine and Chutney

A large amount of Apricots used for this particular jam

Link is here:

Dried Apricot Jam Recipe 1

This one is from BBC Good Food

Link is here:

Dried Apricot Jam

Also makes a lovely ice cream from Pantry ingredients.  

Link is here:

Dried Apricot Ice Cream

Apricot Cordial (Does contain spirit)

Link is here:

Dried Apricot Cordial

Fresh Apricot Ratafia

Link is here:

Fresh Apricot Ratafia

Dried Apricot Liqueur

Link is here:

Dried Apricot Liqueur

Delia's Apricot and Orange Chutney

Link is here:

Delia's Apricot and Orange Chutney

This chutney I tend to make every year in any event.  This is also on the list to make in the next few days.  

I hope these ideas help.  I do have a need for Apricot jam in my Pantry and I also use it in Sponge puddings as well.

Have a lovely evening everyone.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

x

There are of course lots of other ways of using Apricot jam those listed above are just a few.