Stewed Apricots

Nothing tastes better in the middle of winter than your own stewed apricots or other stewed stone fruit. Buy up the fruit when it is cheap, add the sugar and water, cook up and freeze in portions to suit your family. I do bulk and then divide it up into Chinese food containers (because they stack on top of each other well) and then freeze them all. I do the same with plums and nectarines but you will need a little extra sugar for these fruits because they are more tart than apricots.

Frozen stewed apricots have a tendency to change to a brown colour wherever the surface of the fruit meets the air. This is fine though as it does not alter the flavour of the fruit.

For U.S. measurements and oven temperatures please use this Quantity Conversion Chart

 

Ingredients:

2 kg apricot flesh (about 2 and 1/4 cups of whole fruit)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

 

Method:

Wash apricots and cut open to remove stones. Cut into large even sized pieces and place into a large saucepan. Add the sugar and the water and very gently bring to the boil. Stir frequently and very gently to prevent them sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Simmer until the fruit is barely soft which should take no more than 5 minutes. It is important that the fruit still hold its shape. If it goes to a mush it will still taste lovely but won't look as good.

This amount would easily feed 12.

 

Notes:

If the apricots are small, simply cut them into halves. The important thing is to have the pieces pretty much all the same size or the smaller pieces will cook before the larger ones do.

Don't be tempted to put any extra water in the pan or the final juice will end up being too thin and sloppy.

Stewed apricots have a tendency to change to a brown colour wherever the surface of the fruit meets the air. This is fine as it does not alter the flavour of the fruit.

 

Food Facts:

Apricots were first found growing wild in China. They have been around for 4,000 years. Apricots are rich in beta carotene, minerals and vitamin A plus they are a good source of fibre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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