Make Apricot Glaze

Apricot glaze is useful for both sweet and savory dishes. For meats, it is useful as a glaze over the top of ham, pork or chicken. For sweets, it is often used as the first layer over the cake surface before adding marzipan, fondant or other heavy icing finishes. However, it can also be used as a filling in cakes if preferred. This article provides a few ways to produce delicious apricot glazes.

Ingredients

Fresh apricot glaze for meat:

  • 6 ripe, fresh apricots
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons butter
  • 2/3 cup apricot jam or jelly
  • 1/4 cup apricot brandy
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Apricot glaze with orange liqueur for ham:

  • 250g apricot jam
  • 3 tablespoons Grand Marnier or Cointreau

Apricot glaze for cakes:
Makes approx. 125ml (4 fl oz/ 1/2 cup) of glaze

  • 250g (8oz /1 cup) apricot jam (preserves/conserve)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Steps

Fresh Apricot Glaze for Meat

  1. Clean and remove the stones from the fresh apricots. Dice the apricots.
  2. Add the butter to a heavy-based saucepan. Add the chopped apricot pieces. Cook over a medium heat until the apricots soften.
  3. Add the apricot jam or jelly, apricot brandy, rice vinegar and Dijon mustard. Stir all ingredients together. Cook over a gentle heat until the apricot glaze thickens.
    • Check the flavor; a little honey or brown sugar can be added to sweeten if needed.
  4. Remove from the heat. Allow to cool a little slightly, then brush over the meat for cooking according to your recipe.

Apricot Glaze with Orange Liqueur for Ham

  1. Prepare this glaze while the ham has already started to cook. It will be applied 30 minutes into the ham cooking process, suitable for a leg of ham around 8 to 9kg in size.
  2. Place the apricot jam into a heavy-based saucepan. Add the orange liqueur of choice. Cook over a low heat, to melt the jam. Stir frequently, to prevent burning. When the jam has melted, the glaze is ready to use. Allow to cool slightly before adding to the ham.
  3. Remove the ham from oven 30 minutes into cooking. Brush the apricot glaze over the ham. Return to the oven to complete the cooking time, as per your recipe.

Apricot Glaze for Cakes

  1. Have the cake made, cooled and ready before making this glaze. The glaze needs to be used as soon as it has been prepared.
  2. Place the apricot jam into a heavy-based small saucepan. Warm over a medium-warm heat until the jam melts. Stir occasionally to prevent it from burning.
  3. Push the melted jam through a sieve over a clean saucepan. Add the lemon juice and stir through the sieved jam.
    • The sieving process can be skipped if you've used clear apricot jam.
  4. Return to the warm stovetop. Bring to the boil and boil for half a minute. Remove the jam from the heat immediately.
  5. Set the heated jam aside to cool slightly. Once the apricot jam has cooled a little, it can be added to a cake to form a glaze. Apply with a clean pastry or silicone brush, brushing over the top of the cake. Marzipan, fondant or royal icing can be added after the glaze.

Tips

  • If you have an allergy to apricots or dislike their flavor, you can substitute apricot jam/conserve with orange marmalade, a redcurrant jelly glaze or other fruit jam/conserve. The flavor used will depend on the meat or cake being made.

Things You'll Need

Fresh apricot glaze for meat:

  • Cutting board
  • Sharp knife
  • Heavy-based saucepan
  • Stirring spoon

Apricot glaze with orange liqueur for ham:

  • Heavy-based saucepan
  • Stirring spoon
  • Pastry or silicone brush

Apricot glaze for cakes:

  • Small heavy-based saucepan (use 2 or wash the first one for reuse)
  • Stirring spoon
  • Sieve (if needed)
  • Pastry brush or silicone brush for adding the glaze to the cake top

Sources and Citations

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