Kids usually like red jams, at least I did when I was one. Strawberry, raspberry, cherry; once I was hugely let down by redcurrant which was too sour and pippy; and I didn’t quite trust black jams with the exception of blueberry. Green jams were a complete mistake I thought: gooseberry, greengage, quince – the names alone sounded unappetising. And apricot was the only yellow jam I favoured, with orange marmalade being my arch-enemy.
Apricots make excellent jam indeed which is interesting as they are probably the least juicy fruit of all. Have you ever heard of apricot juice? Exactly. They are neat to stone and unmessy to eat, quite unlike their cousins peaches and nectarines. They are also not particularly high in the pectin content, which is the fibre capable of binding, jellying, jamming and solidifying fruit mush. Interestingly, there is more pectin in under ripe fruit so the ideal for jamming will be a mix of very ripe, for flavour, with a bit green, for the binding agent.
I added a stick of cinnamon and some orange juice and zest to my jam which works very well. It is also responsible for an added magical factor: the smells whilst cooking the jam suddenly transport you from the middle of summer into Christmas!