When I lived in Boston, one of my summer activities was to make big batches of apricot jam that I would enjoy throughout the year. Now that I’m living in Hawaii, it’s harder to find good stone fruit. Instead we are blessed with beautiful tropical fruit including papaya fresh from the garden. We have so much, in fact, that even after sharing with friends and family we have more than we can eat. Not wanting the fruit to go bad, I started playing with the idea of a papaya jam, using the apricot jam recipe as a starting point. The result is a lovely sweet jam with spiciness from both fresh and ground ginger. It’s my new summer canning project.
In Hawaii, if you don’t have fruit trees of your own, you probably know someone – family, friends, neighbors, co-workers – who do. Right now, in addition to the papaya from our garden, we were gifted with apple bananas and mangos. At other times of the year we might receive avocados, lychee, or oranges. Growing up with this kind of bounty made it very difficult to buy tropical fruit when I lived on the mainland.
Truth be told, papaya is not one of my favorite fruit, but I love it as a jam, especially paired with ginger. I found that depending on how ripe the papaya is, it may not completely break down. I prefer a smoother jam and just like the apricot, I run this jam through the food mill. But this is an optional step, especially if you prefer chunks of fruit in your jam.
Just like the apricot, I’ve enjoyed this jam on scones and mixed in with my Greek yogurt and granola. I plan to use it as a glaze on tarts and other desserts. I’m just so excited to have a tropical counterpart to my favorite summer jam.
Check out the post for apricot jam for a walkthrough of the process with pictures. If you are new to canning, I highly recommend Food in Jars’ Canning 101. But if canning and food safety scare you (it scared me for a long time), then the jam will keep in the fridge or freezer for several months.
Print
Papaya Ginger Jam
- Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Yield: 40 1x
Description
The ginger balances the sweetness of the jam. It’s delicious on toast or scones, or mixed in with Greek yogurt.
Ingredients
2 pounds finely diced fresh papaya (about 5 cups)
2 pounds granulated sugar (about 4½ cups)
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1.75 ounce box pectin (like Sure Jell)
Instructions
Place the papaya, sugar, fresh and ground ginger, orange and lemon juices, and pectin into a large pot. Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently being careful not to let the mixture bubble over.
Carefully skim off the foam that develops as the jam cooks (quite a bit of foam will form over the 30-40 minutes of cooking time). Follow the preferred method for testing the consistency of the jam but you’ll know it’s done when most of the fruit is broken down and the mixture becomes translucent. The juice will be darker than when you started and nice and clear.
Carefully run the jam through a food mill using a medium-sized hole into a clean pot. If you prefer chunks of fruit in your jam you may skip this step.
Ladle the jam into sterilized jars. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath.*
Notes
*For proper water bath canning procedures, please see https://www.freshpreserving.com/blog?cid=water-bath-canning.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Jam, Preserves
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 102.84
- Sugar: 24.58 g.
- Sodium: 4.64 mg.
- Fat: 0.14 g.
- Saturated Fat: 0.02 g.
- Carbohydrates: 26.58 g.
- Fiber: 0.53 g.
- Protein: 0.15 g.
- Cholesterol: 0
Keywords: jam, preserves, papaya, ginger
0 Comments