If it’s summer it’s jam making season in our house! I made strawberry jam, apricot jam, peach jam in previous years but this time around I felt like mixing them up a bit so I made Strawberry Apricot Jam. I must say that the finished product was AMAZING with a wonderful flavor and just the right amount of sweetness! My favorite part though was when the jam started simmering and the whole house was filled with the divine smell of apricots mixed with the sweet strawberry aroma!

I love going to the farmers’ market every week to buy fresh fruit and vegetables and when it comes to canning, using locally-grown produce makes all the difference! So go get those juicy, sweet and irresistible strawberries and apricots from your farmers’ market or why not, make it a family trip to go pick your own! I guarantee you will have the best homemade jam ever!

The recipe is simple as usual, with basic ingredients and no food preservatives, pectin or any other artificial flavors and colors!

Time: Prep: 45 min.  Cook: several hours until your jam sets well
Yield: 5 jars of 250ml

Ingredients:

• 3.3 pounds (1.5 kg) fresh apricots
• 2.2 pounds (1 kg ) fresh strawberries
• 5 cups (1  kg )sugar
• Juice from 1 lemon

Equipment:

• Jars & lids. Lids should have a gum binder that seals them against the top of the jar.
• 1 large heavy pot for boiling the jam
• Wooden spoons for stirring
• Ladle for distributing jam into jars

 

Directions:

Wash, pit and cut the apricots in quarters. Wash strawberries thoroughly and hull them.

Place apricots and strawberries into a large pot, alternating with sugar. If you don’t want to see your jam overflow down the stove make sure you don’t fill the pot more than two-thirds.

Let stand covered in the refrigerator for a few hours.  The fruit will release their juice and the sugar will start to dissolve.

Add the lemon juice and bring the mixture to a boil.  Stir occasionally and skim the foam once in a while.

Reduce heat to medium-low and let the jam simmer, stirring constantly.

Test the thickness of the jam periodically (spoon some jam onto a plate and let it cool). If it’s runny and saucy you need to let the jam cook for some more time.

While your jam is simmering, wash the jars in soapy water and rinse them thoroughly. Allow them to drip-dry for 15-20 minutes and then place them in a pan (or right on the rack) in the oven set to 225F (100C) to sterilize the jars. Leave them there until you are ready to pour the jam. Make sure the lids are clean and dry as well before using them.

Carefully remove the jars from the oven. Pour the strawberry apricot jam into hot sterilized canning jars. It’s better to pour half a ladle of jam in each jar to allow the jar to reach almost the same temperature as the jam. Then fill all the jars leaving 1-1.5 cm headspace. This is very important as overfilling can result in a jar that doesn’t seal properly.

Wipe the jars with a clean damp paper towel to remove any residue. Place lids on top and cover the jars with a blanket until they are completely cooled. The purpose of the blanket is to allow the jars to cool slowly and help the lids seal properly.

This time I didn’t process the jars in a water bath as I did a few years ago. I just used the blanket trick to sterilize them, same as I did with my peach jam last year and it worked perfectly.

However, if you want to sterilize them using the water bath as well you can do it. You can check out how to do this in one of my previous recipes for strawberry jam or apricot jam.

After the jars are completely cooled if you can press the center of the lid down, it did not seal.  If any jars have not sealed, you can either try processing them again in a water bath or just refrigerate them.