Home Cooking Chronicles: Apricot Preserves

Published 10:50 pm Wednesday, July 30, 2025

My grandmother had a built-in floor-to-ceiling bookcase on her enclosed back porch. It wasn’t filled with books, but with dozens and dozens of jars — canned tomatoes, pickled okra, homemade pickles, jams and fruit preserves. I was often sent out to the porch to grab a jar to round out supper.

I’m not feeding a small army like she did, but there’s something homey and comforting about having a curated selection of your favorite homemade preserves and pickles. Winter feels a little cozier when you open a jar of summer’s bounty on a cold, rainy evening in January.

These apricot preserves are quick and simple. While they won’t last for months (unless you choose to jar and seal them for long-term storage), they’ll keep in the fridge for several weeks — plenty long enough to share with your core group of closest friends.

It’s a small tribute to my grandmother and the quiet joy of simple things made well.

Apricot Preserves 

Makes two 8-ounce jars, easily doubled. This technique works with peaches and plums as well. 

Ingredients

1 1/4 pounds apricots

8 ounces granulated sugar

1 lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (optional) 

Preparation

Halve and de-stone the apricots and cut them in quarters. Put the fruit and the sugar in a medium pan and stir. Leave the mixture to macerate for two to four hours.

Put your pan on the stove top over medium heat and stir to make sure all the sugar has dissolved. Squeeze in the juice of half the lemon

Bring the apricot mixture to a boil and skim off any foam that appears. 

The apricots will break down. When the mixture starts to thicken and feels sticky (about 12 to 15 minutes), take off the heat and stir in the other half of lemon juice and stir in vanilla bean paste if you are using it. 

Spoon the jam in to sterilized jams and seal. Store in the fridge for up to three to four weeks.

Brian Medford is a baker, teacher and the owner of The Rusty Cup in Astoria. He has lived in the Northwest for more than 20 years and delights in Southern cooking. Contact him at blmedford@gmail.com.