Dried Apricot and Whiskey Jam

This is my mom's fantastic jam recipe. I like it, because you can control how much sugar you are putting in, and you can be sure that it has lots of chunky bits of fruit in each bite. It's remarkably simple (I always thought that jam was a big job), using dried apricots as the main ingredient. It makes one and a half bottles of jam.

Ingredients:

125g dried apricot halves

550ml boiling water

The juice of one medium-large lemon

300ml white sugar

20ml whiskey

First, cut up the apricots into smallish pieces. I just used kitchen scissors and cut each dried half into four pieces. 

Soak the apricots in the boiling water. Leave them to stand for at least 4 hours so they are nice and plump and soft. 

The will look something like this when they are done:

Squeeze the juice out of one lemon and add this to the water and fruit.

Simmer the fruit, lemon juice and water for 15 minutes until soft.

Then add the sugar and stir it gently over a medium heat until it is dissolves. 

Keep the jam just simmering gently on the heat for another 30 to 40 minutes. You will need to test it to see when it is ready, which I will show you shortly...

The jam will start to thicken and become a little bit syrupy. Take a teaspoon and put a small blob on a cold plate. Allow it to cool slightly. Push it gently with your finger. It should wrinkle when it is ready. 

Just before you are ready to turn off the stove, add the whiskey and stir it through. Pour the jam into sterilised jars, and store in the refrigerator. 

Note: to sterilised jam jars, fill an already clean glass jar about 2/3 of the way with water. Place the jar into a bowl (to minimise mess), and put it in the microwave on high for 3 minutes. The boiling water will clean it perfectly.