Right now the apricots are ripe. And not only the foreign ones, but also the Swiss. In Valais (for all non-Swiss: this is a canton in the south of Switzerland, where German and French are spoken. It shares borders with Italy and France) you can now find small market stalls on the roadside selling freshly harvested apricots. And since they don’t have long journeys, they are picked ripe and ready to be enjoyed. About 9500 tons are expected this year. Of course, there’s a box for me, too. And since my daughter is on holiday in Valais right now, they are even delivered directly.

Last year I tried spiced plum jam, this year I try apricots. The result convinced me!

Beside the classics like cardamom, which should NEVER be missing, vanilla and ginger, I tried cinnamon buds and star anise. And that’s what came out of it:

Cardamom: fresh, slightly eucalyptus-scented, as always my favourite, tastes great on bread

Vanilla: warm and soft, rather something for autumn, on bread or with vanilla ice-cream

Ginger: fresh, cheeky, lemony, on bread or with cheese

Cinnamon buds: similar to cinnamon, but a little more bitter, warm, autumnal, with game (in cooked fruit as a side dish to autumn meat dishes) or for Christmas biscuits, for example in “Spitzbuben”.

Star anise: warm, reminiscent of winter and Christmas. Instead of sugar for cooked fruits, or to cheese

You can also use all these jams as sugar substitutes. For example in muesli for breakfast, diluted with water for drinking or in yoghurt for dessert.

Other spices such as pepper, cloves, nutmeg or a hint of peperoncino are also something you could try.

What experience do you have with spiced jams?

Apricot Jam

Apricot-Jam in a different way! With five different spices!

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Cooling time 1

Total Time 1 30

Course Breakfast, Snack

Ingredients

1.1 kg apricots pitted and then mashed
1 kg of sugar or 1.1 kg gelling sugar, then omit the gelling powder
30 g of gelling powder

One of the following spices:

1.5 tsp cardamom ground
10 cm vanilla bar cut lengthwise
2 tsp cinnamon buds ground
1.5 tsp of ginger ground
1 tsp star anise ground

Instructions

Mix the mashed apricots, sugar, gelling powder (or gelling sugar and selected spice, bring to the boil and boil for 4 minutes.
Then fill in clean, sterilized jars and close immediately.