Spiced Apricot Jam

Ingredients

(Makes 4 small jars)

Wash the apricots and remove the stones. Collect them in a large pot with the split vanilla bean and the lemon juice. Add also the squeezed lemon to the pot, as it will release pectin, very important to have a thick jam. Crush the cardamom pods and place them in a piece of tighly closed cheese cloth. Add the cardamom, too.
Cook the apricots over low heat for about 20 minutes, or until they begin to collapse. Stir often.
When the apricots are soft, remove the vanilla bean, the cardamom pods and the two half lemons, then mash the apricots.
Add the sugar and stir well until melted.
Put the pot back on the stove and bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes. If you have a pastry thermometer, the jam will be ready when it reaches 105°C. The jam will be still very liquid, it will thicken up once cooled down.
You can also check empirically whether the jam is ready or not with the saucer test. Pour a drop of jam onto a cold dish from the freezer. If it thickens and does not slip away when you tilt the saucer, the jam is ready to be poured into sterilized jars.
To sterilise the jars, you can boil the jars placed in a large pot and covered with water for about 20 minutes. Then turn off the heat and let the jars cool down completely before removing them.
They can be kept in the pantry for more than a year.