History Cookbook: Apricot and Honey Conserve
This recipe is in categories Saxons & Vikings, Vegetarian
About this recipe
Healthiness : (120 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

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.
Ingredients
- 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.)
Equipment
- Sterilised jam jars
- Knife
- Masher or food processor
- Weighing scales
Making and cooking it

- Destone the apricots and cut in slices
- Slightly mash apricots by hand or use a food processor
- Add the other ingredients and mash or puree all ingredients together
- Pour into sterilised (heated) jars or pots and cover well
NB Once opened, the conserve only lasts a week or two, but unopened jars should last up to 6 months.

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Comments
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Name: Tegan Ferbrache | 14th October 2019 |
It looks disgusting |
Name: HistoryFanatic | 10th January 2019 |
OMG this is sooooooooooooo good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Name: Chocy12345 | 8th October 2014 |
this is not very good |
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