APRICOT STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE 1 (6 oz.) pkg. dried (or equal amts. fresh) apricots, chopped Boiling water Streusel (recipe follows at end) 1 3/4 c. flour 1 c. sugar 3/4 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 3/4 c. butter, softened 2/3 c. sour cream 2 lg. eggs 2 tsp. vanilla In bowl cover apricots with boiling water. Let stand 5 minutes. Drain, place on paper towels, set aside. Prepare streusel, set aside. In large bowl, sift together flour and next 4 ingredients. Add butter, sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Using mixer at low speed, beat until moistened. Increase speed to medium, beat 2 1/2 minutes. Spread 2/3 of the batter into greased 9 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan (9 x 13 inch works fine). Toss reserved 3/4 cup pecan mixture from streusel with apricots; sprinkle over batter. Spoon remaining batter over apricot layer, spread evenly. Sprinkle with streusel crumb mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan. STREUSEL: In bowl, mix together: 1/2 c. brown sugar 3 tbsp. sugar 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Reserve 3/4 cup pecan mixture, set aside. Stir 1/2 cup flour in remaining pecan mixture. Using pastry blender, cut in 1/4 cup butter until coarse crumbs form. Freezes well. Dave

Thank you for the advice and reassurance :) I tried it last night ... turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself! It is one of my first jams so I was fairly happy that it worked. I made 8 cups of fruit, and only used 1 package of pectin (which is only half what they recommend) but I figured that plums are a high-pectin fruit apparently and can be used without any pectin ... so I only put enough for the cherries. It "set" really well so I guess that was ok. I used basically the recipe I posted above except only 2 cups of sugar. It is certainly sweet enough like that but I was just worried because the sugar is meant to be the preservative, and I wanted there to be enough to be safe to store. If I used 2 cups of sugar with no-sugar-needed pectin and 8 cups of fruit, how long will it last on a shelf? Regular Jams usually seems to last a couple years, would this reduced-sugar option be less? I used allspice which was really nice with the plums and cherries. Tastes more like a fall jam than a summer one but that's ok ... it will keep till then. Next time I will try vanilla, that sounds incredible too!! Liqueurs are a great idea too, I hadn't even though of that aside from the Red Wine that was in one recipe I found. Thanks! I only had ground allspice but I understand what you mean about the cloudy jam ... mine doesn't seem to be (yet) but I will definitely keep that in mind and look for whole spices that can be removed :) So if I was going to use Sugar instead of Fruit Juice, would I just substitute it 1:1 Cup? The cherries seemed to be juicy enough without much added liquid so I don't think I'd need the juice for liquid. Next up (tonight hopefully) is Raspberry - Lemon Jam. Again, high pectin fruits so will try using 8 cups of fruit and only 1 pkg of no-sugar-needed pectin with 2 cups of sugar. Raspberries are pretty juicy too, I think.

I did try this recipe. I would suggest cutting ground cloves by 1/4 tsp & I ran hot fruit mixture through the blender on puree in 3 small batches before adding pectin. I think it would make a great spread on pumpkin bread or a glaze on baked ham. I was talking with my aunt and a couple friends prior to making, and they all said to leave out pecans- maybe add after the fact when a jar is opened, so I did. The jam leans slightly toward the pineapple taste & I believe the pecans might bring it closer the 'carrot cake' taste. Next time I will toast & grind pecans and add them to the hot jam mixture just before I ladle into jars. The jam is very sweet, looks & spreads nicely.I will put it out with sourcream pumpkin bread dusted with powder sugar at Thanksgiving & see what kind of response it gets. ~Rashell Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb

cooksnsews, although Canada has guidelines for canning and they are different in some instances than ours here in the states, they just don't seem to have the "oh my G*d, you're going to die if you do that" reaction to some old canning methods that we do here in the United States. For instance, I didn't water bath Chase's dill pickles when I made them for Dad Pickles get soft and mushy if they are BWB. I told Dad it wasn't recommended by the government agencies and he told me he was over 70 and would eat the blasted pickles the way he liked them, LOL. The reaction I got from my Canadian family members when Dad brought out homecanned dill pickles was something like "eh, you know they say you shouldn't do that any more". Here, even if I tell people how I canned them and what the ramifications could be, I will be chastised about poisoning my family and ebe told how those pickles should only be disposed of while wearing a haz-mat suit for fear of contamination. I think everyone should know the risks they are taking and then decide whether they want to take them. Being poisoned by jam is pretty low on the risk factor scale. As for water bathing jam, I've done it for years, Grandma even did it because she hated paraffin and found that lids were just so much more consistent. LindaC is the only person I know that still uses the stuff but I would eat her jam without a second thought, it's just not that big a danger. As I mentioned, I wouldn't conjecture about the chili sauce, because I don't know what's in it. Annie