Plums, Apricots and Greengages
Recipe from the book "The First Ukrainian Everyday Cookbook" (1-ша українська загально-практична кухня), 1929, by Olha Franko.
Our little garden was full of fruit trees, and our grandmother would put up all manner of preserves and marmalades. Apples and plums she would pack into clay pots and bake them in the oven. Come winter, she always had something to spread on bread, or to serve with crêpes, biscuits, and cakes.
Apricot and almond preserve pairs wonderfully with all kinds of cheeses.
Ingredients
- 1 kg apricots
- 1 kg sugar
- 125 ml water
- 60 g almonds
- 5 cardamom seeds
- juice of half a lemon*
Method
- Wash the apricots, dry them, cut them in half and remove the stones. (Instead of the stones, I used almonds.)
- Make a syrup with 125 ml of water and 200 g of sugar, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool.
- Pour 800 g of sugar over the apricots, cover with the cooled syrup, and add the cardamom seeds.
- Cook for 10 minutes; once the apricots begin to release their juices, add the almonds.
- Reduce the heat and continue to cook for a further 50 minutes, stirring regularly. The apricots should turn translucent but hold their shape.
- At the end, stir in the lemon juice.
- Ladle the finished preserve into sloiky* (glass preserving jars), seal tightly, and turn upside down for half an hour.
sloiky – glass preserving jars
tsytryna – lemon (archaic Ukrainian term for lemon)