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Apricot and Plum Jam
Use half and half of apricot and plum and make by usual method for jams. The apricots may be used dried and soaked or steamed.
This is a formula rather than a recipe — the book assumes you already know the "usual method for jams" and only tells you the proportion. Here is what that method actually was, and where the two fruits differ.
- The proportionHalf and half means equal weights of prepared fruit, not equal volumes. Weigh the pitted plums and the apricots separately after preparation.
- Sugar, since the book omits itThe standard jam ratio of the period was three-quarters to a full pound of sugar per pound of prepared fruit. The plums bring acidity and skins reasonably rich in pectin; apricots are more moderate on both counts, so three-quarters of a pound will usually set, though a full pound sets firmer.
- Dried apricotsDried fruit absorbs a great deal of water. Soak overnight in just enough water to cover, or steam until plump, and weigh them after soaking — a pound of dried apricots will roughly double in weight, sometimes a little more. Reserve the soaking liquid and use it in the pan.
- The plum stonesCook plums with the stones in if you like — they are easier to skim off the surface than to cut out of raw fruit — but count them going in and coming out. Do not crack the kernels for flavour, as some period recipes direct; apricot and plum kernels contain amygdalin.
- Setting point220F on a thermometer at sea level, or the cold-saucer test: a spoonful chilled a minute should wrinkle when pushed. Expect 25 to 40 minutes at a hard boil, depending on how juicy the plums were.
- ScorchingSoaked dried apricots hold their shape and sit on the bottom of the pan. Use a wide heavy preserving pan and stir down to the base regularly once the mixture thickens.
- SealingThe book's period would have poured the jam hot and sealed with paraffin wax. That practice is no longer recommended. For shelf storage, use current guidance for a boiling-water bath; otherwise refrigerate and use within a month.
- YieldTwo pounds of prepared fruit with sugar gives roughly four half-pint jars.
Jam books of this era are built on proportions rather than recipes, because the household cook was expected to preserve whatever the orchard or the market gave up that week — the writer's job was to say which fruits could be married and in what ratio. Apricot and plum is a practical pairing: apricots have generous flavour but can set softly and go flat, while plums bring acidity, colour and skins full of pectin. The permission to use dried apricots is the interesting line. It signals a jam that could be made in any season, using the dried fruit that was a reliable pantry staple long before fresh apricots travelled well, and it points at a kitchen that treated preserving as year-round work rather than a summer scramble.