Jujube Jam

Background:

Jujube’s are available in specialty markets – and since they are relatively rare in the USA but not so in Asia where they are plentiful and inexpensive – to my readers and visitors from Asia you will want to stock up on these delicious fruit and make lots of jam to enjoy when the season is over – that is what we do – and we only have two trees! The painful part of this is cutting the fruit in half and taking out the pit. I take half the fruit, pit it and boil it with some lemon juice and sugar to taste ( remember since my jams are not sold commercially, I do not need to add the huge amount of sugar that the FDA requires to call these jams/fruit butters etc – so I only add enough sugar until the sample tastes sweet enough to me – which may be different from you! So do not be afraid to experiment. Remember that when the fruit mixture cools it will taste even sweeter and be thicker without the use of pectin. Once the mixture has cooked slowly for a number of hours – and tastes good – I will rub it through a strainer ( another time consuming part of this jam) and what comes out is the most divine fruit butter you have ever tasted. Truly – I can stand and eat it with a spoon as if it were candy! Another option is to NOT strain the fruit mixture but to eat it like that – which means that although it has no pit, it will have its skin on – and so adds a lot of roughage but is definitely an acquired taste – i.e. you may find that you do not like the rough taste of the skins despite the delicious flavor of the fruit around it.

Ingredients:

Jujube fruit pitted

Juice of one lemon for 3 lbs of fruit (no pits)

Sugar to taste – approximately one cup for 6 cups of cooked softened fruit ( no pits)

1 cup of water for 6 lbs of fruit

Preparation Time: 5 hours

Directions:

1. Pit the raw jujube fruit.
2. Place the pitted fruit into a bowl to which you have added the juice of one lemon for each 3 lbs of raw fruit ( no pits).
3. Put the fruit and lemon onto the stove and bring to a boil then reduce to a low or medium low heat and cook until the mixture softens.
4. Add sugar to taste – approximately 1 cup of sugar for 6 cups of cooked softened fruit
5. Continue to cook at a low heat until the mixture darkens – stir occasionally to avoid any sticking or burning.
6. Take off the heat and rub through a strainer – discard what is in the strainer ( we give it to our chickens) and take the buttery mixture which is your jujube butter – and pour into canning jars and seal.
7. Alternative is to take the entire mixture with the skins and put that into a canning jar and seal.