Apricot Jam is a low-sugar cooked jam made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- 4 cups mashed apricots about 2 1/2 pounds
- 4 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- ¼ cup lemon juice or 1 teaspoon citric acid
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin mixed with sweetener
Instructions
- Before you begin, prepare calcium water.To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
- Wash jars, lids, and bands. Place jars in canner, fill canner 2/3 full with water, bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and keep jars in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids in water in a small sauce pan; cover and heat to a low boil. Turn off heat and keep lids in hot water until ready to use.
- Wash, pit and chop fruit. Puree in a food processor so that the skins are chopped up well. **To soften firm fruit, bring to a boil with 1/2 cup water, simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Measure 4 cups pureed fruit into sauce pan.
- Bring fruit to a boil, turn down the heat, cover, and simmer about 30 minutes or less, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
- Add calcium water and lemon juice or citric acid, and mix well.
- Measure sugar into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sugar. Set aside.
- Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-sugar mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jam comes back up to a boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
- Fill hot jars to ¼” of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2-piece lids. Put filled jars in boiling water to cover. Boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level). Remove from water. Let jars cool. Check seals; lids should be sucked down. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
Tiffanie
Can I swap honey for the sugar? What would the ratio be? Thanks for your help!
Shelby Collings
You sure can! It will measure half the amount of sugar.
Tiffanie M
Thanks! Can’t wait to try this!
Amy E Lilly
Can I add more sugar if I feel it needs it? I also would like to add a couple teaspoons of freshly grated ginger.
Shelby Collings
You sure can! Just make sure it is added after the called for amount of pectin/sugar is dissolved. You can safely add up to 1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger.
Stephanie
Hello, it is OK to use Apriums (an Apricot – Plum hybrid) in this recipe? Also, what about adding liqueurs or alcohol? Thank you.
Shelby Collings
Yes, you sure can! You may use up to 1/4 cup of alcohol/liquor.
Ed Smith
Can’t get fresh Apricots in our area. Could we use dried Apricots?
Shelby Collings
Hello Ed,
Yes, you can use dried apricots if you’d like. The best way to do that is to reconstitute the apricots first, then follow the recipe in your instruction sheet for making apricot jam. If you have commercially dried fruit that has added sweetener, you may need to adjust the amount of sugar you use in your jam recipe. To reconstitute apricots, add some water and your apricots to a bowl and let it sit in the fridge for up to eight hours or so to let the water reabsorb into the fruit.
Happy Jamming!
Leana
The ball book calls for the skins to be removed. What is the difference with skins off or on?
Shelby Collings
Just preference 😊
Maria
Can I use frozen lemon juice from my own lemons?
Shelby Collings
We do recommend using bottled lemon juice because it has a predictable pH level that ensures your jams and jellies will be preserved safely.
Leana
How many jars will this make & what size?
Shelby Collings
This recipe says that it will make about 5 cups. We suggest using 4oz or 8oz jars. Happy jamming!
Frances Reeves
can you add habaneros to this apricot jam? any modifications? And how much peppers should I use
Shelby Collings
Hello Frances,
We would suggest your use our Cherry Habanero Lime recipe and substitute the cherries for apricots! You can omit the lime zest if you wish and replace the lime juice with either lemon juice or vinegar if you would like.
Happy jamming!
Tina
Hello
Can I double triple or more the recipe?
Ty!
Shelby Collings
You sure can!
Kelly
Is it ok to add a bit of fresh ginger to this apricot jam recipe?
Shelby Collings
You sure can! We would suggest 2 teaspoons of freshly ground ginger per 4 cups of mashed fruit. Happy jamming!
Alysia
Can you substitute honey for the sugar? Thank you!!!
Shelby Collings
Absolutely! It will measure half the amount of the called for sugar (if it calls for 1 cup of sugar, you will use 1/2 cup of honey/agave/maple syrup).
Happy jamming!
Trish
Could I add some small chopped pieces of maraschino cherries to this apricot jam recipe? Would it need to be modified? Thanks!
Shelby Collings
Hello Trish,
That sounds delicious! We would recommend adding 2 tbsp additional lemon juice just to be safe.
Happy jamming!
Bill
Can you make this using de-hydrated apricots by heating them in hot water for a while first?
Shelby Collings
Dried fruit can work in our recipes, the fruit just needs to be reconstituted.
Place dried fruit in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to sit for 15-20 minutes until plump then strain and use (you may wish to reserve the “juice” so that you can add it to your jam mixture if it appears to need more liquid…as we want it to behave as much like fresh fruit as possible).
Happy jamming!
Kindly,
Shelby
Bill G
Thank you so much, I am trying it tomorrow and will let you know!
Bill Galbreath
I made this and it worked perfectly! I did have to simmer the dried apricots a couple hours to get them to soften, but then I did 3/4 apricots and 1/4 mangoes and added 1/2 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and chipotle! Magnifico, thanks Pomona’s Pectin and the Create Your Own Recipe page!
Darian Harrison
Can I use frozen apricots for this recipe?
Shelby Collings
Yes! You can use frozen fruit for the cooked recipes. It’s best to use unsweetened frozen fruit. Defrost, but don’t drain, frozen fruit before using. Generally you use the liquid from the frozen fruit along with the fruit unless you notice that there is an excessive amount of liquid, in which case, you would ladle off some of the excess liquid before measuring your mashed fruit. If you are going to juice the fruit for jelly, then you would use all of the liquid.
Happy jamming!
Kindly,
Shelby
Lauren
How will this do halved?
Shelby Collings
You can half any of our recipes! 😊
Sharon
How long can you store the calcium water in frig ?
Shelby Collings
The calcium water can be stored in the fridge for several months (will just need to be tossed if it has any floating bits or smell or color). It can also be stored in the freezer and will keep indefinitely, and will just need to be thawed before use. We also highly recommend labeling your jar of calcium water, as it seems to be the first item tossed when cleaning the fridge/freezer .
Janet
Can you make this and keep it in the freezer? I’d like to avoid canning as it’s so hot right now. Thanks!
Shelby Collings
Hello Janet!
You sure can! Just allow the jars to come to room temperature before placing in the freezer. 😊
Abi
Tried this and it’s amazing! It actually tastes like apricots, not just like sugar!
I’m interested in trying this as apricot habanero jam … might it be safe to add up to one habanero per recipe? Thanks!
Shelby Collings
That sounds delicious! You sure can, we would suggest de-seeding it first. We would also suggest increasing the lemon juice to 1/3 cup.
Happy jamming!
Katie Chance
Why does it say to simmer the fruit puree for 30 min or less? How would I know if it needs less time?
Also 30 min sounds like a long time to simmer…
Sandra Grabosky
How long do we have to cook the apricots before the bits of plum skin are no longer visible? Inquiring minds want to know….
Trying Pamonas for the first time, looking forward to a lower sugar jam.
Shelby Collings
Haha, thank you for catching that type-o Sandra, we have now fixed it!
Happy jamming, and if you find a way to turn apricots into plums, we’d love to try them!