Apricot preserves substitutes

Same stone fruit family, same color, same set. The most interchangeable option on this list.

Best for

rugelach, hamantaschen, cake glaze, sweet-and-sour brisket, thumbprint cookies, toast

Slightly sweeter and less tangy than apricot, so a brisket sauce built on it tastes rounder and less bright. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice per half cup to close the gap. In a filled pastry nobody will notice at all.

A citrus preserve with real acidity and plenty of natural pectin, which is why professional bakers reach for it as a glaze.

Best for

cake and tart glaze, brisket and duck sauces, rugelach, glazing fruit tarts

More bitter and noticeably more citrusy, and looser out of the jar so it brushes on beautifully. In a savory sweet-and-sour sauce this is often better than apricot, giving the glaze an adult edge. Push it through a sieve if you do not want strips of peel showing on a cake.

A clear, firm, almost flavorless jelly. It is the standard neutral glaze because it adds gloss without changing how anything tastes.

Best for

cake glaze, fruit tart glaze, clear shine on pastry, thinning into a brush-on glaze

It brings shine and stickiness and virtually no fruit flavor, so a tart glazed with it tastes of the fruit underneath rather than of apricot. Stir in a teaspoon of lemon juice per half cup so it is not merely sweet. Poor choice as a pastry filling because it is too bland to taste like anything.

Both are tropical, tangy and about as thick as apricot jam.

Best for

glazes, brisket and chicken sauces, rugelach, ham glaze

Markedly tangier and more perfumed. Pineapple in particular has a sharp, almost fermented brightness that makes a sweet-and-sour brisket taste livelier and less traditional. Mango is sweeter and thicker. Both look right on a cake and taste distinctly not-apricot.

Both are stiff, sliceable fruit pastes. Melt gently with a splash of water until they loosen to jam consistency.

Best for

hamantaschen, rugelach, any filling that must not run, cheese boards

This is the best option for filled pastry, because both pastes are so thick that they hold their shape in a hot oven where jam would boil out. Quince is floral and mildly tart; guava is much sweeter and more tropical. Both are darker than apricot, so the filling looks reddish rather than golden.

Whatever thick jam you actually own. Raspberry is the traditional alternative in both rugelach and hamantaschen.

Best for

rugelach, hamantaschen, thumbprint cookies, linzer cookies, layer cakes

The flavor and color change completely, from golden and mildly tart to red and assertive. Nobody will think it is apricot; they will think you made raspberry rugelach, which is a real and popular thing. Poor choice for a clear glaze because it stains the fruit underneath.

Simmer chopped dried apricots with the water for 15 minutes until very soft, add the sugar and a tablespoon of lemon juice, cook five minutes more, then blitz or mash smooth.

Best for

when you want the real flavor, rugelach, hamantaschen, glaze, brisket sauce

This tastes more intensely of apricot than most jars do, because dried fruit is concentrated. It is stiffer and less glossy than commercial preserves since it has no added pectin, which makes it excellent as a pastry filling and slightly dull as a shiny glaze. Twenty-five minutes of work for a genuine 1:1 replacement.