Apricot Butter
Summer's dog days have definitely
arrived. Every day is golden and hot. As I walk through Plummer Park
on my daily errands, neighborhood doggies take their exercise on the
lawns, for the summer sidewalks of of Southern California are too hot
in August for delicate footpads. Russian seniors, in many ways the
cornerstone of the neighborhood, fan themselves on benches, play
chess at picnic tables, work their way to cooling centers set up in
the WPA buildings that are this park's crowning jewel.
It is no exaggeration to state that Plummer Park is among the reasons we settled in this pocket of West Hollywood. It was among the first compass points I became comfortable with as I found my way around Los Angeles. It is a short walk from
our apartment, through historic bunaglow courts and enviable
Craftsman houses, to Plummer. It really is one of the centers of life in WeHo. At Plummer, we have attended holiday jazz and summer swing
concerts. We've attended community events from Mayoral meet and
greets to the annual May Day and July Fourth parties. Thanks to
Plummer, I've improved my pick-up ball game and learned to play
tennis. I've investigated a haunted house at Plummer,
and in its legendary Vista Hall, I both voted on Election Day and sat
in its shadow on the day after as I tried to process the results.
Mondays, Plummer hosts a certified
farmer's market. It's on the small side, admittedly, but farmers come
from as far away as Santa Maria to vend flowers, melons, berries,
lettuces, and if you're lucky, California grapes. On my first visit
to the Plummer farmers market, I learned about growing mushrooms from
an evangelist for them from Ventura, who gifted me a box to try that
was solely responsible for my overcoming my distaste for them. I now
visit his stall every time I'm at the farmer's market, my mind
enlivened by the vision of mushroomers spelunking below ground to
harvest these miraculous fungi, and my appetite robust at the thought
of the pizza that's going to result.
Today, one of the fruit vendors had
apricots, one of my favorite summer yields. It's a bit late in the
season for them, but a quick bite proved that the crop was not
impacted by being slightly off calendar. Standing in the August sunshine in West Hollywood, that bite of apricot transported me
immediately to Astoria. Local homes often had fruit trees, and
alongside showy crabapple and obligatory fig, apricot trees were
popular. I looked forward to those little bites of gold, arriving in
a mesh basket from a generous neighbor with a note that she expected
a jar or two of jam from them. From apricot jam I got into the habit
of making apricot butter, a deeper, richer expression of this richly
flavored stone fruit. I bought some apricots today in the perfect
nexus of WeHo sun and Astoria memories. The ones I don't eat, I will
make into apricot butter. Here is the recipe.
Apricot Butter
2 -1/2 pounds apricots
3 cups granulated sugar
½ cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon brandy
2 cinnamon sticks
½ teaspoon ground mace
Prepare the apricots
- Working one at a time, halve and pit the apricots by safely slicing the apricot in half by following the seam on the side of the fruit. Safely remove the pit and any hard shelling or stem; you only want the flesh and peel.
- Once you have peeled and pitted the apricots, place them into a large non-reactive pot with a lid. Add the cinammon sticks to the pot. Pour the water into the pot.
- Turn the burner to medium low. Cook the apricots, stirring frequently to avoid scorching, until they are soft; about 25 minutes, partially covering the pan with its lid between stirrings.
- Once the apricots are soft, pour out excess water if any. Use tongs to remove the cinnamon sticks from the pot.
- Use a potato masher to mash the cooked apricots into a pulp about the consistency of baby food.
- Measure the brandy into the apricot mash and stir to combine.
- Measure the sugar into the pot containing the apricot-brandy mash.
- Turn the burner to medium-low. Cook the apricot mash until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is thick and very fragrant, approximately 30 – 40 minutes.
- Once the mixture is thick and spreadable, turn off the heat. Stir the lemon juice and the mace into the apricot mixture and stir to combine.
Note: It
is essential to follow safe canning practices. For instructions on
safe canning, click
here: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html or
here http://www.freshpreserving.com/getting-started.aspx.
- Place a clean towel on a counter near the canner but not near the burner.
- Use canning tongs to remove hot jars from water bath. Do your best not to touch the hot jars; let the tongs do the work. Place hot jars mouth up on the clean towel.
- Use a jar lifter to transport a jar mouth-side up to the pot containing the hot marmalade. Place a clean canning funnel into the mouth of the jar. Carefully use a large spoon to fill the jar with apricot butter to the ½-inch mark.
- Check for and remove air bubbles if any.
- Use a clean, damp sponge to wipe the rim of each jar. Center a clean, hot lid on each jar. Screw a band down on each jar until it meets resistance; increase just until tight.
- Use canning tongs to return the jars to the boiling water bath. Add more water if necessary to ensure that the jars are completely covered by boiling water by 1 inch. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
- After jars have processed for ten minutes in the boiling water bath, turn off the heat. Remove the canner lid and set aside. Let jars sit in hot water ten minutes.
- After ten minutes, use the canning tongs to remove the jars. Being very careful of the hot jars, lids and liquid, place jars upright on the towel. Allow to sit 24 hours.
- After 24 hours, check for a vacuum seal (see instructions). Label each jar with the contents and the date prepared.
- Safely prepared, stored and sealed, apricot butter will keep for one year from date of preparation.
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