History Cookbook: Apricot and Honey Conserve

Healthiness : (38 votes)

Difficulty:  
Comments: The Saxons and Vikings would have mashed everything by hand - this is quite time consuming. Today we can use a food processor which makes it very quick and easy to make.
Preparation Time: 15 minutes de-stoning apricots, 2 minutes in a processor.
Cooking Time: None
Number of servings: This made about 4 jars
Serving suggestions: Serve on toast, with a pudding or with yoghurt.
This is a vegan recipe

Before sugar was available, honey was used both as a sweetener and as a preserve. Fermented honey made an alcoholic drink called mead. We used white grape juice in our conserve. However, the alcohol is the main reason that the apricots don't go off, so I kept my conserve in the fridge and used it within a couple of weeks. It was delicious and we had it on toast, ice cream and with a custard tart.

• 225g (8oz) honey
• 225g (8oz) apricots
• 4 tsps pressed crab apple juice or lemon juice. (This is to add sharpness. The Anglo-Saxons would have used crab apple juice, you can use lemon juice.)
• 1/2 tsp of sweet cecily seed (If you cannot get this, use cinnamon. It is a good substitute and may have been availabe to the Anglo-Saxons, as it was brought from the east and traded across Europe from very early times.)
• 2 tbs mead or white grape juice. (Note: this won't keep well without the mead.)

• Sterilised jam jars
• Knife
• Masher or food processor
• Weighing scales

Always wash your hands before preparing food.

1. Destone the apricots and cut in slices
2. Slightly mash apricots by hand or use a food processor 
3. Add the other ingredients and mash or puree all ingredients together
4. Pour into sterilised (heated) jars or pots and cover well 

There are 3 comments for this recipe.
Add a comment

Name: Chocy12345	8th October 2014
this is not very good

Name: Ellesar	9th June 2014
This is NOT a vegan recipe! Since when is honey not an 'animal' product?!

Name: Jose

19th February 2012

Juice Ladies: A row of them can be found in any Peruvian mekart, standing on raised platforms in front of giant mountains of produce. As you pass by they will try to flag you down, eager to liquify anything your heart desires for a few soles. While all of these juice ladies are the same: identical blenders, identical fruits and vegetables, identical glasses and matching lab-coats, people seem to develop a very strong loyalty to their juice lady. Our favourite blend was the combinado, a mix of orange, carrot, banana, melon, papaya, mango and (sometimes) aloe vera. To read more about juice ladies check out Jill's post on Vegan Backpacker.

View all comments, or Add a comment