I have to admit, I have a really big sweet tooth. It’s been a continuous challenge for me since I started eating clean. The worst part is going through the grocery store lines and looking at all that chocolate that they like to display right at eye level. It’s maddening. But, so far I’ve managed to hang in there.
The thing with changing your way of eating is…
…you can’t just go cold turkey and never allow yourself anything that you actually enjoy. If you do, it’s not only a sure fire way to fail, but you are then actually on a “diet” instead of an eating plan that you will stick with for the rest of your life.
So to keep my sanity, I’ve had to start looking around at what I will allow myself while still sticking to my clean eating plan.
I have tons of persimmons sitting around my condo. My sister-in-law asked me to make persimmon jam to take to her family down south for the holidays, and I somehow managed to bring home 8 bags of them instead of just one which would have sufficed for this little project (she has two persimmon trees). In the weeks since Thanksgiving, my crock pot has not turned off. I have bags of frozen persimmon pulp in my freezer just waiting for me to get creative in the kitchen.
So when I started craving something sweet, I needed to consider some persimmons, more out of necessity than out of craving. But you know what they say, “necessity is the mother of invention”. And boy do I have a little invention for you today! This Clean Eating Persimmon Jam is absolutely to die for!
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Clean Eating Persimmon Jam
(Makes 3-4 medium mason jars)
Ingredients:
- 4 cups persimmon pulp (See recipe for pulp here)
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 2 cups honey
- 1 cup water
Directions:
- Place all ingredients in a large pot and cook, stirring frequently, until you start to see the fruit “gel” or “clump”. It won’t be the entire pot that does this, just a little from the bottom of the pot when you stir.
- Once you see this, immediately remove from heat and pour into jars. Allow jars to cool for an hour, and then store in the fridge.
Note: Nutrition data not available for this recipe
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Yes. The pulp is what you make first. Then you use that to make the Jam. They are different recipes.
How long will it last in the fridge, that is if we don’t eat it all first
?
Mizzy – I would say a couple of weeks. But I’m guessing. It’s never lasted long enough around here to find out.
fist time doing this. How do i make the pulp
Follow the link in the ingredient list.
Yes, you can.
The Hachiya are the longer, acorn variety that have to get really soft to be ripe. They are great for cooking. The fuyu’s don’t cook as well and are better to just eat raw.
Can you substitute something else if you don’t have 2 cups of honey?
Honey is expensive. Also being a diabetic I have to watch my sugars.
What kind of sweeteners do you use? I think maple syrup is lower on the glycemic index, but I’m not positive. You’d have to check on that. Also, you could try xylitol. But again, not sure what the effect on your blood sugar would be. Stevia is the only thing I can think of that would have the smallest affect on you (though you should check with your doctor to be sure it’s okay for you). But I never use it because I get an aftertaste. So if it works for you, you’d have to experiment with how much to use. The nice thing is that you can always stir it in afterwards to taste. Sorry, wish I could be more help here.
I’m sorry, I don’t know. I know nothing about canning. You’d have to show the recipe to a master canner.
No, the harder persimmons don’t cook down into jam very well. You could try it, but I doubt the result would be very good. Also, the “jam sugar” is not clean as far as I know. Sorry.
How long does it have to cook for before it starts to gel up?
The time can very, but it does have to cook down a bit. Figure on somewhere between 30-60 minutes.
Does it actually gel or just thicken?
It just thickens.
Hi there! I’m new to clean eating and curious about the use of pamona pectin for other ”clean” jams I’ve seen. Any thoughts on the stuff?
I’ve never heard of it. It is listed that way in the ingredient list of the jam you buy or is this a particular type of product for making jams?
can you freeze the pulp and use at another time?????
Vera – I would think so, yes.
We have wild persimmons here. I just froze 2 quarts of pulp. I am making this this weekend and cold packing the jam for gifts. Sounds wonderful!
Allison – Thanks! Just please know that my recipes are not formulated for canning. (Not sure what cold packing is…)
I searched and found your wonderful recipe! I was curious as to “until you see the fruit jell or clump” but when it happened it was, “Oh, that’s what she meant!” I was also a bit skeptical about making jelly w/o pectin or sure jell, but was I surprised! Oh so good! Now I wish I had more ‘simmons!
BTW, cold packing is what you described with this recipe, clean the jars, pour the hot jelly in, cap with lids and rings and let cool until they seal. I’m storing in the extra fridge but as long as the jars seal (all mine did) it would keep on the shelf for quite a while; honey is a natural preservative. Don’t know what the shelf life would be but this stuff is so good, the two batches I made will probably not last long enough to find out.
Thanks for your wonderful recipes!
Joe B – I’m so glad you enjoyed it! The reason I don’t recommend my recipes for canning is because the acidity has to be just right to keep unwanted bacteria from developing. (Which I’m sure you know). Since I know nothing about canning, I can’t say whether or not my recipes are appropriate because I honestly don’t know. They haven’t been tested at all. For me, it’s a safety issue. I wouldn’t want somebody getting sick. So I always recommend against canning my recipes. Of course, storing them in a jar in the fridge is another matter completely.
Enjoy the jam!
Right you are. And you could seal the jars the old fashion way by sealing the top with paraffin or bee’s wax, I think jellies sealed this way last longer. If I can find some ‘Simmons, I will seal some that and find out. Thanks again for a great site and recipes.
Joe B – My pleasure!
Hi Tiffany – instead of persimmons, could you substitute any fruit into this recipe?
Leo – Depends on the fruit. Each fruit has their own requirements for the most part. What did you have in mind?
What about muscadine grapes??? I have bags I need to get creative with.
Keenya – I’ve never tried it with grapes. You’d have to do a small batch and experiment. You also might have to add some thickener like agar agar.
Hi, I have a quick question. After making my jam, can I freeze it?
Michelle – Sure! But do a test batch first to be sure you are okay with the resulting texture. It does change just slightly with freezing.
Update from 2013: I found a jar of the jelly I made last year in the outside fridge and was it ever good!
After last year, I saved all my persimmons and made the pulp by your recipe and put in freezer as they began to ripen. I have the Japanese non-astringent variety so I picked them as they began to soften. But they really ripen after first frost and I left quite a few (5 gal bucket) to ripen on the tree. I just finished making jelly but I tried two variations. The first I used 8 cups of pulp, 2 cups honey,2 tbs of fresh lemon juice and 1 packet of fruit pectin. The other I used 4 cps pulp, 2 cps honey, 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice and 4 packets paraffin. We’ll see how that turns out.
I going to try not refrigerating the batch with the paraffin, the other I will other I will although all jars sealed as they cool. Last year’s lasted a year refrigerated. I did have 1 jar form a bit of mold on top after it was opened but I said, not much different than cheese mold so I spooned the mold off and ate anyway. The taste was just as good with no ill effects, not that I would advise that with everybody. Of course one must carefully scrape the mold off taking care not to mix it.
Anyway, I still love your recipes and they’ve shown me how to use my persimmons. I found a recipe for a spiced persimmon cake, should turn out really good.
Joe b – I’m glad it all worked out! And glad the mold didn’t make you sick. Be careful with that!