When life gives you organic apricots you make jam! Or wine!! Or fruit leathers and smoothies and chutney!! Despite years of natural living I am still skeptical when someone offers anything sugar free or gluten free. The trick is to make the alternatives as good or better than the traditional recipe. Not disgusting. A friend recently shared a sugar free chutney recipe. I was not convinced but I sampled it and was blown away! So I decided to experiment. After all we've recently processed a couple crates of delicious organic apricots.
FarmerBuckaroo is always accommodating in testing my experiments. If he likes them then I know they are good! This apricot jam is too delicious not too share. Of course, food recipes IMO need to be simple enough for my little ones to be able to make. Because they helped pick and dehydrate, I decided to involve them in the making of sugar free jam!! This turned out to be a homeschooling exercise that ticked all the boxes.
Because apricots are slightly tart I added medjool dates to sweeten the jam. We recently received 10kg of fresh medjool dates from a farmer friend in the Kalahari. Yup - TEN - kgs! I love food that has a surprise in it. Chilli chocolate. Citrus in cheesecake. Rosehips in rooibos. Coriander in - well almost anything. So I tried two varieties of sugar-free apricot jam. One with fresh peppermint and the other with fresh ginger. They were both a roaring success!
And here is the recipe!!
APRICOT JAM - WITH A TWIST!
200g dehydrated organic Apricots
80 g depitted medjool Dates
1cm slice of fresh ginger OR a few sprigs of peppermint
1 cup spring water (maybe more)
Dash of cinnamon
Soak the dehydrated apricots and dates in the cup of water overnight. The fruit must be just submerged!
In your food processor blend the dried fruit with the sliver of ginger and dash of cinnamon. If the consistency is too thick then slowly drizzle in more water. Blend until smooth. It is important to taste the jam. I found I needed to add more ginger. It is important to used dehydrated (or sun dried fruit) as the flavour is very intense and has a longer shelf life.
On a slice of freshly baked sourdough bread this apricot jam barely touches sides! It is incredibly hot in the Karoo at the moment and so I have frozen small amounts of the jam to use as we need. I also found that a spoon of the apricot jam in each bottle of kombucha - on the second ferment - makes for a fizz extravaganza! Naturally, I am relieved that I don't have to sweat for hours over a pot of sugary fruit cooking to jam. Who would know sugar free could be such a wonderous taste sensation!
No kidding! Here I sat over a hot stove every time this summer! Thank you! I will truly give this a try!
Thanks always for your time-saving recipes! Have an amazing day!
Just remember the flavour is very intense. Don't expect sugary apricot jam - it is similar BUT not the same! We all love it. And as I said if my husband likes it then it passes the test because he loves the sugary jam version. I just don't have the time or inclination to cook over a stove
I don't eat sugar, so that makes me happy! :) Hello? I wouldn't want to either!
Especially looking out on a beautiful day with so many opportunities! Who wants a hot stove? Unless of course you're waist deep in snow....
Haha! Knee deep. :)
I am beyond jealous. Like, green jealous.
When I was a kid, my green thumbed Nana had a HUGE apricot tree. She'd hang plastic bags on it to frighten the birds. I swear I'd never, ever had such amazing apricots since. I remember her stewing them (compote) and putting them in margarine containers in the freezer. I can still remember her defrosting them in the microwave to have on her pancakes. I can recall the crust of ice on top, the colour, the smell. I was only young - maybe six, seven? - but that tactile experience really implanted deep in my memory - I can't think of Nana without apricots, parsley and calendula, wisteria and monstera. Oh, and kickass apfel strudel. She'd roll the pastry real thin and spread it with sour cream before rolling up the stewed apples and sultanas and cinnamon into a roll. I think they call it viennese strudel?
But I digress.
Happy new year, gorgeous girl.
Nana?! So we have something else in common ... mind you most South African's don't call their grandmothers Nana. Hmmmm, is it British origin? We called our one granny Nana, and my children call my mother Nana. You Nana sounds like mine - a pastry chef and a lover of her garden. My Nana was always baking cakes. I am convinced my sweet tooth was thanks to all her yummy cakes. So now that I'm of the healthier understanding I still love cakes but have to come up with non sugar alternatives - hence the jam. It is so special the childhood memories we have, isn't it? And smells associated with people from way back.
No, she was German! Yeah, totally - I was close to her, though she wasn't very demonstrative in a hard ass farm woman kinda way. But she was super inspriing - I do channel her a lot because she was pretty strong and helped me find my strength when I went through a relationship break up. 'You don't need a man', she'd say, pulling no punches. My other gran was Grandma, she was English!I think sugar was cheap and par for the course in those days!!
I’m glad you’re relieved, it’s a good thing you share your recipe with us
Thank you for sharing have a nice day ❤️
And a lovely day to you too
Wow awesome twist with the medjool dates. During Ramadan some of the local supermarkets stock up on these. Great little energy hit
Fabulous for energy!
this look delicious! I would love to have some for breakfast now with my freshly made bread & coffee!
Perfect with fresh bread and coffee!
instead I ate white tea, tahini, honey & this bread I baked yesterday evening:
Yum! Tahini and honey together is a double yum!
i only missed fried apples with cinnamon! 😉
Feeling jealous - I would have come to collect...
It may be cheaper to import it!
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Yes please! Medjool dates always do the trick and they are one of the healthiest natural sweeteners. This is a delicious recipe Tracey, I wish you could send me one those little jars 🧡😋🧡
Aren't those jars adorable?! I would have to fill jar before sending Lena!
Oh of course Tracey, I have those jars too, well similar and yes, they are adorable. But I meant jar filed with your chutney. I am sorry for not being clear 🙈
Oh yes! Of course. Well the next best thing I can do is share the recipe Lena
Yes! Most definitely! Apricot jam is one of my favorites 😋
@lenasveganliving I get those in the States if you are seriously looking for them.
Hello, lady! ❤️
Hello my Dear @dswigle. You mean those jars? We have them in Canada too, but not with the delicious chutney @buckaroobaby made! 💖😋💖
Ha! I thought you might mean that! It does look pretty tasty! I'm glad, otherwise I would have had to ship you some! :) Hope all is well in your world, my friend! xoxo
Oh yes! It must be very tasty! And yes all is well and I hope with you too. Happy New Year Denise! All the best! Lots of love and blessings my Dear ✨💖✨💖✨💖✨
Thank you so much! You are definitely such a beautiful soul!
Awwwwwwwwwww, you are too my Dear Denise. And you are most welcome 💖
Yumzee!
We received a plate of dried fruits for christmas, and the dried abricots were gone in literally a day, but the dates, are still barely touched haha.
Brilliant idea, as usual, so ressourceful!