Forgotten Fruits: Loquat Jam

It’s October – that means Loquat Jam is on the menu.

My loquat tree has self seeded numerous times and I have several fruiting copious amounts at this time of year. It’s an early season for a stone fruit, and the birds know it. And the possums too, to be fair. There’s not a lot of juicy fruit to choose from in October.

The trick is to pick them when they are golden and ripe, but before they are spoiled with bird pecks or have mottled skin. So, off I went into the garden with my bucket to see what I could score and came away with an easy half bucketful.

What do loquats taste like? A little like apricot, plum and cherry all mixed together!

While I am not a huge jam eater, my friends and family are – plus they make a great addition to my monthly Crop Swap meet when other produce is in sparse supply.

This recipe has been based around the 2.5kg of fruit I picked, however if you don’t have this much, you can use the following ratio: 2:1 for fruit and white sugar respectively.

Loquat Jam

Makes: approx 2.5 litres

Ingredients

• 2.5kg loquats, destoned
• 1.25kg white sugar
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon, optional
• jam setting sugar, optional

Method

1. Wash the loquats thoroughly in water. Cut off the flowery end (at the bottom), then cut in half. Scoop out and discard the stones and the sacking it is encased in, which is easy to do with your thumb. Roughly chop each loquat half into quarters and add to a large saucepan, once you’ve measured the weight of your bounty.
2. Having calculated the weight of the fruit, add half as much white sugar (eg: 2.5kg fruit, 1.25kg sugar). Let the sugar and the fruit sit for around an hour while the juices are released.
3. Add lemon juice and ground cinnamon, if using.
4. Over a medium heat, stir the contents of the saucepan until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat back to medium, and let simmer for approx. 60 minutes. The fruit will have changed colour into a golden slurry.
5. Turn off the heat and let the contents cool, then use a stick blender to blitz up the fruit into the desired texture. It’s personal choice – some like fruity chunks and others like a smoother jam. The reason for cooling it first is that otherwise you’re likely to burn yourself if you blitz the mixture while hot.
6. Return to the heat and bring to the boil again, until thickened. If it is still a little ‘liquid’ for your liking, add a tablespoon or two of jam setting mix, and mix until thickened.
7. Pour into sterilised jars, wiping away any excess around the mouth of the jar, and screwing on your sterilised lids.