657095 Mon Oct 05 06:56:20 -0700 2009 2 31 Home Cooking 0 5079612 When I lived in metro NYC, supermarkets carried this brand, which was very thick and made, I THINK, from dried apricots. I have a big bag of dried sulphured Blenheim apricots that were tree-ripened. The apricot butter recipes I have found online all call for fresh. I don't necessarily need to sterile-can the spread, if I make a couple of jars I could freeze one. I am wondering if this is as simple as simmering the dried fruit in water. I assume I need to add an acid - thinking of grinding up a 1000mg Vitamin C tablet since lemon juice would spoil sooner. I am also thinking of adding Amaretto and/or almond extract to make something I'd use as cake or cookie filling. Does anyone know the Simon Fischer brand, and have any pointers? Mon Oct 05 06:56:20 -0700 2009 159317 greygarious 1 5079910 I'm not familiar with the brand but I make and can a lot of fruit butters. I did a dried fig jam with port off the cuff that took reserve champion at our county fair this year so dried fruits are definitely usable. There's two ways you can go: Soak the dried fruit for a week in the amaretto so the apricots plump up and absorb the flavor. Drain off the amaretto and reserve. OR pour boiling water over the apricots and allow to soak for an hour or two to plump. Drain off the water. Then run the apricots through a food processor or grinder. You want to turn them into a puree. You may have to add some liquid to get a puree consistency. Adding apricot juice would be great, apple or white grape juice would work, or you can add water. Once you have a puree, taste as you add sweetener (white sugar if you want to preserve the color, honey or brown sugar if you want a "deeper" sweet flavor). 1/4 cup white sugar to every cup of puree, less for honey and brown sugar because they have a sweeter taste, to start. But taste plain first as dried fruits' sweetness is more concentrated than fresh. I recommend seeding and thinly slicing a lemon instead of the ascorbic acid. The lemon will complement and brighten the apricot as well as preserve the color. The thin lemon slices will cook up tender and translucent in the puree and will add to preservation qualities just as well as ascorbic acid. Add your spices of choice (I think crystallized ginger would be great), tasting as you go. Remember all the flavors will concentrate as the puree cooks down. Pour the prepared puree in a heavy flat bottomed pan (I use my turkey roaster) and bake in a 325 degree oven, uncovered, stirring 2 or 3 times an hour until the consistency you want is reached. Keep a closer eye on it toward the end as it thickens to prevent scorching. If you plumped your fruit with water you can now stir in your amaretto. If you plumped the fruit in amaretto, taste the butter and if you think it needs more amaretto taste, stir in some of the reserved apricot amaretto liquid. Either way the alcohol will also contribute to it's keeping qualities. From there you can freeze it or can it in a water bath. Mon Oct 05 08:54:01 -0700 2009 5079612 160677 morwen 2 5082433 Thanks - I'd forgotten this could be done in the oven. I think I'll do that, then play around with adding amaretto to some of it after removing most of the finished jam. Tue Oct 06 07:50:27 -0700 2009 5079910 159317 greygarious