Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge #8 - In a Jam

The Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge #8 is to make something to preserve our harvest or replenish our supply for winter.  The weather here in the piedmont of North Carolina has taken a decidedly autumn turn and leaves are already falling.  Temperatures are mild and it's perfect for spending time in the kitchen.

While our CBS Homemaker's Exchange Recipes booklets have several wonderful jam recipes, we were taken with an Apricot Ginger Conserve recipe in the April/May/June 1951 issue.

A conserve, by definition, is a whole fruit jam or a mixture of fruits and/or vegetables.  It may also include dried fruit or nuts. 

Our conserve recipe calls for Sunsweet apricots.  We've seen Sunsweet dried prunes in the grocery store and are wondering if dried apricots is what we're using for this recipe.  A little research leads us to a 1950 cookbook at auction with the following pages including the very recipe from our CBS Homemaker's Exchange Recipes booklet.




Copyright 1950



The same Apricot Ginger Conserve recipe we are using from our CBS Homemaker's Exchange Recipes booklet.

It's an interesting thought that a fruit could be dehydrated for storage and distribution, and then rehydrated and preserved at home in a new recipe.  We're excited to try it!

 

The shopping trip is a real eye opener!  Crystallized or candied ginger is usually available in the spice selections.  We retired almost a year ago from a position where we managed retirement communities which included full dining services so we hadn't cooked or shopped for over two years.  Of course it was sticker shock when we had to start shopping and cooking again, but no more shocking than in the spice aisle.  And today was no different when we saw that candied ginger was $9.00 for a 2 ounce bottle!  But fresh ginger root is reasonable and we decide to make our own candied ginger and buy a nice piece for 30 cents.

 

Here are all our ingredients and sadly Sunsweet offered only prunes.  We are only making half the recipe as we're just not sure if this mix of flavors will appeal to us.



To make candied ginger scrape the peel off the fresh root.  Slice it into 1/8" slim slices and boil in water for 30 to 40 minutes until the ginger is soft.  Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the water.  Weigh your softened ginger and measure out an equal weight of sugar.

Combine sugar and ginger in a saucepan with the 1/4 cup reserved liquid.  Bring to a boil over med-high heat and boil over medium heat until the water begins to boil away.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment and oil a rack.  As the water boils off you will feel the sugar begin to reach the crystalline stage as it starts to stick to the pan.  At this stage remove your pan from the heat.

Spread your candied ginger pieces on your prepared rack and let them cool.  Once cool you can put them in an airtight container and use within two weeks.

But we are using them today for our Apricot Ginger Conserve.  The lemon and orange rind is grated and added to the water and sugar and orange and lemon juices.  The candied ginger is added.

 

The dried apricots are rinsed, drained, and added.  The mixture is brought to a boil and then the heat reduced to medium and boiled gently for 40 minutes stirring often.

 Meanwhile the glasses are sterilized.

 And the paraffin is melted in a double boiler.

After 40 minutes the chopped walnuts are added and boiled for 5 more minutes.

 The conserve is put into the glasses.

 And a thin layer of paraffin is poured over the hot mixture.

 Once everything is cool add another layer of paraffin swirling to coat completely up to the edges.

Yes, we kept some out for a taste test!  What a glorious flavor!  Some more internet searching and we found a NZ company that makes Apricot Ginger Conserve for $8.95 for 230g, about 8 ounces.  They describe it as being served warm or cold.  It can be spread on whole grain toast, scones, or on a cheese platter.  They say it is perfect on its own or as a glaze for fruit tarts and other desserts.  We can't wait to try all of that and will probably make the full batch next time.

Historical Food Fortnightly

The Challenge:  #8 In A Jam
The Recipe:  Apricot Ginger Conserve
The Date/Year and Region:  April/May/June 1951, United States
How Did You Make It:  Followed the recipe closely and made the candied ginger as well.
Time to Complete:  2 1/2 hours
Total Cost:  $10.30
How Successful Was It?  4 thumbs up at our house!  Having it tomorrow with waffles.
How Accurate Is It?  Completely.

Enjoy!

Patrick and Jeanette