Sunday, December 11, 2011

Apricot Frenzy...

We were very blessed this week when a friend sent a huge crate of apricots to us from her farm up country. They are sweet and delicious fresh but we would never have managed to eat them all before they went over ripe. So the frenzy began....

My daughter made some superb apricot jam.

I made some old fashioned apricot chutney....

For the chutney combine the following in a large pot:
1.5 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups chopped tart apples
3 cups chopped apricots
3 cups boiling water
2 cups chopped onions
2 cups sugar (1 brown/1 white)
4 cloves crushed garlic
0.5 cup raisins
2 T chopped ginger

Bring to the boil for 30 mins then add:
2tsp mustard seeds
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon & allspice
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
0.5 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayene pepper

Boil gently until it all thickens (about another 30mins) then pour into sterilized jars. I then boiled the jars in my canning pot for 10 minutes. On cooling the lids should "pop" to form the vaccuum seal.

And I also made some fresh apricot ice cream.

There are still enough left over, even after giving away loads, to make another batch of jam for my mom in law who's favorite thing in the whole world is fresh white bread, butter and apricot jam and she needs a little spoiling right now.

I am entering my chutney in Heidi Marie's baking challenge.

9 comments:

Tane Hannah said...

Awesome! :) We got a whole bunch of apricots from our farm, too. We made apricot puree, apricot jam, apricot pies, apricot muffins etc. Plus we also ate a whole bunch of them as well as cooking and baking with them. :D
Lots of love
Tane ♥

Chris said...

Ooh, apricot ice-cream sounds very tempting, Wendy! I'm lusting after some apricots at the moment, more so after reading your post. I'd love to make a batch of boozy jam and try bottling some in syrup. Enjoy your bounty! :)

Linda said...

How wonderful! We just picked about 15 apricots from our tree! I would love to make this recipe, thanks for sharing Wendy!
xo

Perrin said...

Fabulous! Wow it looks really really good! Yummy!!! :))
Perrin xxx

Lois Evensen said...

That all looks wonderful! We love apricots here. I will have to make the ice cream one of these years. Hmmm. That might be fun for the Christmas dinner.... :))

Heidi-Mari said...

Dear Aunty Wendy
Thank you so much for entering my fortnightly baking fun challenge!
Your Chutney looks really good. Looks like you had lots of fun with apricots!
Have a blessed week
Lots of love
Heidi

Kelly-Anne said...

We are stating our apricot jam and chutney making today!!

sally said...

I am in the same orange land of apricot! Have done 2 loads of jam, 2 differnt chutneys, ice-cream, 2 batches of cordial, a cake and still have a crate in the cool-room! And this after giving away a mountain. This is the kind of predicament I love!

Could you share the recipe for your ice-cream? Mine was not very good...

Urban Homestead South Africa said...

Hi Sally
The recipe comes from a book called Perfect Scoop which a friend recommended. It is simply 450g really ripe apricots (pitted and chopped)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
which you boil up for 8 minutes then blend with a stick blender.
Cool and then stir in 1cup heavy cream.
Chill completely, then add to your frozen icecream bowl and churn until frozen.
I think it will be divine in meringue baskets with toasted flaked almonds over it...?