Making Quince & Apricot Jam and Dried Fig Jam
Recipes for Using Figs, Apricots and Quince for Fall Fruit Jams
Oct 19, 2008
Fresh figs are oven dried and apricots blended with autumn quince to create two distinct fruit spreads or jams for warming Fall breakfasts.
On those colder Fall mornings warm up with home-made fresh fruit spreads with a Quince and Apricot Jam or a Dried Fig Jam on toast or with cheese and sourdough breads.
Autumn ripened quince is a stunning fruit for making jam using the set jam method. Here's a variation of the basic Quince Jam plus a new recipe for Dried Fig Jam.
Quince and Apricot Jam Recipe
Ingredients:
- 4 lbs quinces
- 500g or 16 oz dried apricots
- 5 pints water
- 6 lbs sugar
- 1 lemon
Directions:
- Peel, core and slice the quinces.
- Put them into a preserving pan with the water, and cook slowly until the quince has been stewed. This may take around an hour due to the woodiness of fresh quince. Any fruit left not stewed will increase the moisture in the jam mixture for setting. The jam will not will keep as well under such conditions.
- The contents of the pan will reduce considerably. When fruit is tender, add the dried apricots and freshly squeezed juice of a lemon to the saucepan.
- Simmer until the apricots have plumped in appearance.
- Add the sugar, bring to the boil and boil for about 15 minutes and test for jelling.
- As soon as the jam sets when tested on a cold plate, stir the quince and apricots thoroughly for a balance of fruits and pot into hot sterilised jars. Seal the fruit jam in jars immediately.
Fresh quince can also be made into some stunning quince desserts for Fall suppers.
Dried Fig Jam Recipe
Ingredients:
- 500g or 16 oz dried figs
- 225g or 8 oz granulated sugar
- 300 ml or 10 fl oz still spring water
- 1 lemon
- 50g or 2 oz chopped walnuts
Directions:
- First, the fresh figs should be dried using a very low oven: "Cut as many fresh figs as you want to use in half and flatten them as much as possible. Dry them ...in a very low oven, till the outside is quite dry, but the inside still sticky" writes Michelle Berriedale-Johnson in The British Museum Cookbook (Abbeville Press, 1987) as directions of how to dry a fresh fig.
- Dissolve the sugar in the spring water by boiling. Using still spring water in this recipe may seem extravagent and it makes a difference to the consistency of the taste of the dried fig fruit jam.
- Freshly squeeze the juice from the lemon and add to the saucepan. Simmer for 1 minute.
- Add the dried figs and simmer for 25 to 40 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Once the figgy juices have thickened to coat a spoon, remove from the heat and add the finely chopped walnuts. Stir the walnuts into the figgy jam well.
- Simmer for 2-3 minutes and ensure that the jam jars for the Dried Fig Jam recipe are warmed.
- Stir the loose jam to ensure a balance of fruits and pot into the warmed sterilised jam jars. Seal the fruit jam in jars immediately.
Supplies of good quality fresh figs from October can be transformed into a figgy fruit spread or dried fig jam. Fresh figs in October can also be made into tasty figgy desserts.
The copyright of the article Making Quince & Apricot Jam and Dried Fig Jam in Fall Recipes is owned by Susan Morris. Permission to republish Making Quince & Apricot Jam and Dried Fig Jam in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
