Monday, March 21, 2011

Rebecka's Apricot & Ginger Conserve

Dried apricots are my favourite dried fruit. It is at the top of my list for dried fruits. I always have a packet of dried apricots in my pantry. There's something about them, pop one in the mouth and you'll reach for another one. I love the tangy sourish sweet taste and the  unmistakenly wonderful smell of apricots! 



I love their vibrant, cheerful, happy yellow, colour of sunshine brightness! When I came across this recipe for Apricot and Ginger Conserve over at Rebecka's blog from At Home With Rebecka, I really wanted to make this. Rebecka uses fresh apricots! How I would love to have fresh apricots, but they do cost a bundle over here! Rebecka advises me to use dried apricots instead, and I did! These Apricot and Ginger Conserve turns out to be so good! Rebecka even added dried mangoes for extra flavour. I did not since I can't find any!



Since I use the Dried Apricots instead of the fresh ones, I cut them in half and soak them in unsweetened apple juice for about 8 hours, to plump them up first. Then I cooked them as per Rebecka's instructions. I did not use any pectin for these as the conserve set up rather well. Now what is a conserve? I get confused sometimes over conserve, jam and preserve. As what I understood from "Homemade Preserves" by Maggie Mayhew, a brief explanation, "These are similar to jams, but they have a slightly softer set and contain whole or large pieces of fruit". 


These are what I got from the three cups of dried apricots. I used my recycle bottles from the mayonnaise and pasta sauces that I bought, so the sizes varies. All in, estimated yield, about 4 bottles of 250ml sizes.


These are really good, the chunky pieces of apricots and the sliced candied ginger are full of flavour.


Guess where this spoonful end up after taking this photo?  Mmmm.... delicious!!


Hop over to At Home With Rebecka for the full recipe and read a charming childhood story of how Rebecka and her brothers used to go berry-picking for her mom. I love reading stories like this!

Since I used the dried apricots, I did a little adjustments. Here's my recipe :


Dried Apricots and Ginger Conserve
(source from At Home With Rebecka, with slight adjustments. For the original recipe that calls for Fresh Apricots, please visit Rebecka's blog, I think using Fresh Apricots will be more flavourful!)
3 cups dried apricots, cut to half
3 cups unsweetened apple juice
1/4 orange juice
juice from half of one small lemon
1 tsp grated orange zest
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/3 cup candied ginger, sliced
1/2 cup sugar

  1. Slice dried apricots in half. Place in a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients except candied ginger and sugar. Leave aside, covered, for about 8 hours.
  2. Transfer contents into a deep saucepan, add in candied ginger and simmer slowly until apricots are tender. Stir frequently and when apricots are soft but not mushy (as this is a conserve), add in sugar.
  3. Cook until sugar melts and mixture is thick. 
  4. Remove from heat and pour into prepared sterilized jars and seal. Enjoy!

This is one  delicious tasty conserve that I'll be making again. The addition of candied ginger is really fabulous! Thank you, Rebecka for this wonderful recipe! 



19 comments:

  1. Que rica la combinación de la conserva,cítricos con dulce y lo mejor que es muy durable como lo preparas,linda receta,abrazos y cariños.

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  2. Great idea! I love dried apricots too, but I've never thought of doing anything exciting with them.

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  3. Very good idea my dear friend !!!
    Beautiful and delicious !!!
    Greetings and Kisses

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  4. Wav,Lovely fruit jam,Thanks for sharing this recipe.

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  5. You are right, when you have apricots in your pantry there is always something good to be made. Lovely conserve.

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  6. like you, i'm also confused between conserves and jam. I think it's always good to be able to make our own jam or conserves as in here, they look very good!

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  7. Great use for dried apricots. I have a huge bag that I need to do something with. This conserve sounds so flavorful!

    And thank you so much for your nice comments on my post. It means a lot! I'm happy to say that Andy is doing well and the biopsy was negative, thankfully!

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  8. Awesome use of your dried apricots. I love them myself...I always have a package stashed in my desk for nibbles. Well done :)

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  9. Ginger is a lovely flavor to combine with apricots! So scrumptious!

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  10. What a great use for the dried apricots. This conserve looks wonderful!

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  11. Never think of using dried fruits to make conserve and now I'm totally enlightened by you. Your conserve is gorgeous!

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  12. Hi friends,
    Thank you for stopping by! As always, you are all so sweet! Have a lovely week! :)

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  13. Hi, good ideia, will defenitely try next time,
    yours looks very smooth, love it.
    Have a great day.

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  14. This really sounds delicious. I do a great deal of jams and jellies in season, but have never done a conserve. You've inspired me. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  15. Finger licking conserve. I can see how much you love dried apricots there! ;)

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  16. Joy, your conserve turned out beautifully!! Your adjustments to the recipe are a sign of a true chef! Making due with what is available in your region is such a wonderful aspect of cooking and you were brilliant with your modifications! Thank you for sharing my recipe and all of your sweet comments! HUGS!

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  17. Such beautiful flavors...delightful and delicious!

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