When we were at the markets a couple of weeks ago, we picked up two boxes of apricots from Morris and Jody. It was exciting to see such beautiful fruit after last year’s disappointing crops!
The five kilo boxes were $10 each, and they’ve given us so much pleasure. A lot of them were eaten, but the rest have been turned into:
Apricot Jam
Pete made 12 jars of his magnificent jam for Christmas. Here’s the formula he used for this batch (it varies slightly depending on the quality and age of the fruit):
- 3.2kg apricots (pitted weight), halved
- 2 x 300ml jars of homemade apple pectin (this batch was made with whole apples)
- 2.3kg white sugar
- juice of 1 large lemon
Apricot Tart
This easy tart was made with June’s sweet pastry (defrosted from the freezer). On top of a pastry base, we sprinkled half a cup of almond meal (ground almonds), then topped it with halved apricots, sugar, and a latticed pastry top. It was finished with an egg wash and a dusting of Moo’s magic sugar before baking…
Apricot and Raspberry Upside Down Cake
Using David Lebovitz’ recipe, I made this cake with apricots and frozen raspberries. I learnt the hard way that springform pans can leak, and most of the caramel topping oozed out over the oven floor. As a result, the cake wasn’t as sweet as it probably should have been, but it was absolutely delicious served with microwave custard. I’ve decided that custard fixes everything, in baking terms. Maybe in life, too…
The cake cut beautifully…
Hopefully this recent bout of wet weather hasn’t done too much damage to the crops, as it’s shaping up to be a brilliant year for stone fruit. The apricots were delicious, and the cherries – oh my, they didn’t even last long enough for me to take a photo!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
What a lot of apricot deliciousness Celia.
:-) Mandy
Thanks Mandy!
That all looks tremendous, I shall be back in our spring for Pete’s Jam recipe/formula, mine is so haphazard. and that upside down cake made my mouth water.. literally.. (smile) c
Thanks Celi! Pete’s jam recipes are always changing – he insists that it depends totally on the fruit involved, and this year the apricots were fantastic. Last year they were very ordinary, and the jam needed quite a lot of sugar…
Very tasty looking cake and tart, Celia – apricots and raspberries are a lovely combination.
The person who invents a truly leakproof springform cake will make a fortune! I’ve lots which will hold in cake batter but not thinner liquids such as caramel.
Suelle, you’ll laugh – I heard sputtering in the oven, and I thought, “ooh, that’s a funny noise..”. It never occurred to me that the pan was leaking hot caramel out of the bottom! I’m going to try the cake again with a solid pan, because I’m sure it will be even nicer with a bit more caramel on top!
My second favourite stone fruit (cherries take first place). That tart looks particularly divine.
Thanks Sally! You’d do well at our place – apricots and cherries rule! :)
Oh wow, I’m seriously jealous! I must make apricot jam next year.
Greg, Pete makes a lot of jam, but apricot is one of his best, particularly in a good year. It’s so versatile too – we use it for both eating and cooking.
your apricot post does justice to a wonderful fruit with all your delicious looking creations..
the apricots in the shops in melbourne are wonderful too..i bought a kilo yesterday to test the quality before i buy a box for bottling and drying and i was surprised to find that they actually tasted like home grown apricots..now i’m thinking jam too!
Jane, it’s interesting how fickle apricots can be – some years we don’t even see them in the markets. But when they’re good, they’re oh so very good!
They all look delicious, especially that upside down cake – I love cooked apricots in things like that. I do wish we could get genuinely ripe apricots here – they are usually fluffy or tasteless, and much better cooked. My mums friend rather enterprisingly grows them in a greenhouse in her garden…. pretty good for the wet and windy northwest of England!
C, that is quite a job, growing a tree in a greenhouse!! It’s been a good season here, although the wet weather now seems to be taking its toll..
Mmm they look delicious. It was nice to see so much lovely stone fruit at the markets yesterday.
Claire, it’s been a real treat, hasn’t it? :)
The last time I had really good apricots was picked from a lone tree on a farm somewhere in the Snowy Mountains. Are you using the seeds Celia? I eat the almond-like kernel of every apricot I eat, they are like a slightly bitter almond. Some people claim they are poisonous as they contain a homeopathic amount of arsenic. I have been eating them for years and I am still around. Shelling them can be tricky as the shells are thicker than almonds.
Frances, we’ve planted an apricot tree – somewhat optimistically, I think. But who knows, maybe one day we’ll be able to pick our own fruit too! :)
I live in apple country ( Bilpin) and I know that some of our orchardists have lost crops because of the recent wet ( mainly the cherries which do not do well this close to harvesting when wet weather arrives ) so we will be relying on crops from further afield for our cherries this year.
You should come up and visit some of the pick your own farms Celia – there is something utterly divine about freshly picked fruit.
Sue, it has been a bad time for all this rain! We went apple picking in Bilpin on the way home from Orange earlier this year:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/05/28/a-trip-to-orange/
So you have!
It was funny reading some of the comments particularly about our local coach service – he’s still doing the school run and all the kids know the drivers by name ( and vice versa!)
If you are ever coming up this way again you must let me know.
A plethora of fab apricotness :D
Thanks Nic! :)
i love their colour and their furry curvy little selves, they are one of the cutest of the fruits. As C says, they are often disappointing raw here in the UK but we live in hope. Really hope you have a good fruit year after last year :)
Jo, we’re hoping so too! I haven’t seen any good plums at the markets yet, but that’s what we’re looking out for next. Thank goodness for jam, we’re still going through the plum jam we made a couple of years ago (we’re down to the last jars!). It really does show what preserving is all about!
Oh Celia, how delicious. I hope the apricots are good this year. My father used to grow them, and my best friend also had a bountiful treee and they were plump and sweet and so full of flavour. Often, the store bought ones are just not that good.
Lizzy, you’re so right. I’m sure you get fantastic stonefruit in Canberra!
I love apricots. You bought your apricots at an incredible price compared with how much they are per kilo at Harris Farm! Your jam looks wonderful.
Charlie, gotta love the markets. Not only is everything massively cheaper, it’s also two weeks fresher than the supermarkets! :)
What great ideas! I shall be back in six months time. Thanks for a great site.
Frances is right: if you make the jam again, use the stones. They’re not the easiest to process – I had to buy a nutcracker for them – but add a wonderful taste to the jam
Apparently you’d have to eat about 20 of the kernels at one time to be affected by the levels of arsenic, and since you’ll only get about two to each fruit, a person would have to be intent!
Thanks for stopping by! I’ll check out your recipe! :)
Ahh, to have fresh apricots straight from the tree…this is one of my dreams! Tart looks gorgeous, what more can I say? Jam is also on the to do list. How long do you keep your pectin for?
Chris, we’ve only ever had pectin about nine or ten months, but I think it would be fine for a year. We make it when apples are in season and cheap (March/April) and use it up in December jam making! :)
As soon as I saw your photo of apricots I was thinking Apricot Tart. And you didn’t disappoint !
Claire, the tart was delish, particularly with Moo’s sugar! We served it with custard… of course.. :)
we are also having a great apricot and cherry season here – my favourites are all coming out now :)
Tandy, that’s good to know! Look forward to seeing the recipes which I’m sure will follow.. ;-)
I am always amazed by your baking ability and I am jealous. I tried making a cake the other day and it went into the rubbish. As I always say I wish I was your neighbor. Everything looks wonderful.
Norma, it’s just practice, honestly. And with the amazing food you cook, I’m sure you’d be an amazing baker. Hope the arm is ok.. x
Apricots, fresh or dried, I love so much… and these recipes are so beautiful. In my kitchen there is always apricot jam… If I can’t find fresh them, I make with dried apricots… Thank you dear Celia, this was a wonderful post. With my love, nia
Nia, I’ve never heard of making jam with dried apricots, thank you for the headsup! :)
“Custard fixes everything.” That is going to be my battle cry for the week. :-)
Maz
Custard really does fix everything! Especially when it can be made in under five minutes in the microwave! :)
I wonder if I could get apricot in the local market here because I really wanna try your jam recipe :)
Tes, I hope you find some, because there’s nothing quite like homemade apricot jam!
Fantastic! I ahve just read your other posts making pectin etc and I am very inspired. Can you please tell me which day is the best for the Flemington Markets? Cheers..Nicki
Hi Nicki, thanks for stopping by! We find it easiest to shop at Flemington Markets on either Fridays or early Sunday mornings – Saturdays are a nightmare! :)
I see you’ve been busy once again. Thanks for the apricot jam recipe! I tried to make some this year, but didn’t quite get my proportions right. The result is edible, but the flavor isn’t quite right. I will try it next year, following Pete’s recipe.
Manuela, this was his formula this year, but as I said, it changes every year depending on the fruit. Pete will usually start with less sugar, and then add it as required to get the set and flavour right – he tries to use as little sugar as possible, otherwise the taste of the fruit gets drowned out.
Oooooooooooooo yum i love the tartness of apricots. I can’t wait until our apricot tree grows up a bit!
Mrs Bok, we’ve planted one too, but I’m still not convinced they’ll grow here in Sydney!
Dear Celia, later I want to post about dried apricot jam. In my food culture we make this, and also we eat dried apricot and also we use in our cakes too. You are welcome and Thank you, with my love, nia
Thanks Nia! Look forward to reading about it! :)
What riches indeed with 2 boxes of golden treasure! I’ve been worried about our local cherries and other stonefruit as we had a big hail storm last week, hopefully they’re still ok, yumm…
Becca, I’m worried too – when I went to the markets last week, there wasn’t nearly as much around as there had been the fortnight before.. x
Waw, You are certainly creative with these fresh apricots! So tasty desserts too! I especially love that jam! ;)
Thanks Sophie! :)
Last week while shopping at our local organic store Vivian the owner gave me a whole crate of apricots. She had got them by mistake and they were slightly spoiled and a bit tasteless. But I though they would be perfect for making jam. Alas they grew fur in just a few days before we were ready.
Jason, that’s a shame! Sometimes we don’t get a lot of time with summer fruit, especially if it’s been kept in cold storage..
They look like perfect apricots! And you’ve certainly been very industrious with your apricots, I can’t believe you’ve done so much with them! :)