Origin: South Africa

• Description
• Applications
• Storage
• Recipe

• Apricots have velvet skin, juicy flesh, and a subtle, deeply sweet taste with almond overtones. The skin is tender and tart, with just a little bit of downy fuzz. This fruit is all about flavor and juice. Apricots have a slightly firm texture that holds up well when cooked. Even better, their flavor intensifies when heated.

• You can use Apricots in raw and cooked applications. You can poach them, grill them, bake them, or add them to cakes, quick bread, or muffins. Or just eat them. The following items pair well with Apricots: other stone fruit like cherries, almonds and plums, hazelnut, pistachio, vanilla bean, honey, lemon zest, orange zest, and white chocolate. You can use Apricots as a substitute for peaches.

• You can store Apricots at room temperature until ripe. And once Apricots are ripe, you should eat them or store them in the refrigerator to eat them within a couple of days. When you store Apricots in the fridge, make sure that you don't stack or pile on them so they don't get damaged. And if you want to keep Apricots for up to 3 months, then you can blanch, slice, remove the pit, and freeze them.

• Apricot Jam

  Ingredients:

  5 1/2 cups unpeeled, chopped and pitted fresh apricots
  2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
  1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  

  Instructions:

  1. Place the apricots and lemon juice in a large stockpot. Add the sugar. Let the mixture sit at room temperature, stirring occasionally until the sugar is mostly dissolved, about 1 hour.
  2. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often.
  3. When it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring often and skimming any foam that rises to the surface, for 20 minutes or until the jam thickens and runs off the side of a spoon in heavy drops. Remove from the heat.
  4. Fill and seal the hot jars. Store for a couple of months.