Loquats just off of the tree.
Not too many families have a loquat story, but mine does. My father and his wife loved their loquat tree. It was a prolific provider. Year in and year out it produced beautiful fruit. We made jam every summer. My step-mom is an amazing maker of tarts and her loquat jam served as the special glaze that set her desserts apart. In 2008 a massive wildfire roared through their Santa Barbara canyon. It ravaged their property, burning a secondary structure that had been my family’s weekend house, leaving their modest home standing but destroying every tree, and living thing that had surrounded them. My father had planted most of the trees as seedlings after the Coyote Fire, which burned our home to the ground in 1975. My father and step-mom lost so many things in the 2008 fire, it is difficult to list them all, but for some reason that loquat tree was one of the hardest losses to bear. Friends came together and helped them replant, including a friend of ours who gave them a new loquat tree. This spring we had access to a different loquat tree (it’s a long story that I’ll get to in time). It was our first foray back into our annual loquat jam making. We made three batches yesterday. It felt really good to be back as a family making jam!
Loquats are a problematic fruit. You need to pick them and then make them into jam immediately. They have absolutely no shelf life off of the tree. They will literally rot overnight, even in the refrigerator. We pick them, bring them inside, pit and skin them and process them into jam all at once. Once made into jam they have a lovely color and flavor a bit like an apricot, but slightly more exotic. They also make an excellent glaze for tarts. If you have a loquat tree and have never made the fruit into jam, I highly recommend trying it at least once. It’s absolutely delicious, and the color of the jam is spectacular.
A bit like an apricot, loquats have brown pits and skin you can eat.
- 6 cups loquats, pitted and skinned
- 7 cups sugar
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 ½ tablespoons butter
- 1 package Sure Jell
Sterilize your jars and lids. We sterilize ours by running them through the dishwasher. Do not remove them until you are ready to fill them. The lids and rims should be boiled on the stovetop and not touched until ready for use. Any other implements (spoons, funnels) should also be dropped in boiling water before they come in contact with the fruit.
Loquats: prepped and ready.
As soon as you cut the fruit, place it in a large bowl with the lemon juice so that the fruit does not discolor. Once you have all of the fruit prepared, toss the fruit with the pectin and put it in a large pot and bring to a boil. Once it is at a rolling boil take it off of the heat and stir in the sugar.
Loquats: On the stove with sugar and Sure Jell.
Put it back on the heat and bring back to a boil. Let it boil for 1 minute. Add the butter. Stir to blend. Skim the top of any bubbles/scum (keep the bubbles for home use). Ladle the jam into already sterilized jars. Don’t ladle past the rim, stop right below the beginning of the lip of the jar. Try not to get jam on the rim. If you do, use a clean cloth and wipe the rim before you put on the lid.
Screw on the tops and the lids tightly. Invert immediately. Leave inverted for about 1 hour and then flip over. Let the jam cool before you move the jars. The jars should ping as they cool. If they do not ping the jar has not sealed. Refrigerate this jam and use in the near term.
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{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for the beautiful pictures and the recipe! Our loquat tree here in Florida is having a banner year–the largest loquats we have see yet, and covering the tree. I’m excited to make the jam.
Carol: I’m so glad you are going to try this recipe. Remember to pick them and process them IMMEDIATELY!! Good luck!
Hi Rachel,
Thanks for sharing this recipe. Over here it is hard to get loquat
you are so lucky 
I’m a little late on this post, but I have a question!
I have access to a loquat tree and it’s fruit, but there isn’t enough at one time to make jam. Can I freeze them until I get enough for a batch?
And if so, do you recommend freezing whole or peeled and seeded?
You’ve inspired me to collect loquats, Rachel – I seem to have coworkers with trees, so I’ve been foraging from them. I’ve now made several batches of jam, which my husband LOVES. I have done it slightly differently, and I’m sure the flavor turns out different, so it would be interesting to compare. Instead of using pectin, I macerate the loquats in sugar for an hour or so first, then boil until the jam starts to thicken. I boil it longer than you do, so yours probably has a fresher flavor.
What do you do with the butter??
My loquat jam recipe is similar except we simply pit them, leave the peeling on. I put them through the food processor before cooking, measure the amound of pureed loquats and make jam in small batches of about 5 cups of pureed loquat, 3 to 4 cups of sugar, and just enough water to cover the loquats. I cook the loquats thoroughly, then when completely tender I add the pectin. It’s also a family tradition here in Florida that my (now grown) sons look forward to. Last season, my little granddaughter and I “rescued” all the baby loquat trees springing up, so now we have at least 100 trees to share with friends and neighbors.
I just finished making Loquat Jam…..a lot of work skinning them…..I was able to get three cups…..cut the recipe in half and made the jam…..right now they are cooling…..I hope they ping like you stated…..can’t wait to taste my first project. Thanks for the recipe……I will comment later on as to the taste…..really looking forward to it!
P.S. What do you do with the butter….I didn’t read it in the recipe?
Loquat jam is a labor of love. Lots and lots of work – you need to enlist a team of relatives to help!!
Best,
Rachel
If you add the butter during the cooking cycle my step-mom claims it cuts down on the amount of scum/bubbles that form on the top. I’ll edit the recipe to reflect this. Apologies that I left this out!!
Rachel
Hi All….we continue to make Loquat Jam…we are becoming real experts at it….we do, however, put less sugar in…..diabetics in the family….Still tasty and everyone just loves it…..Thanks again…..I did add the butter and find that it does cut down on the scum/bubbles that form on the top.
Jennifer yes you can freeze them but not for long when they thaw out you need to have them in the pot. The meat turns real mushy. You ought to try and find someone with another tree that you can raid, most people do not even know what they are it is an aquired taste.
Do you have an easy way to peel these little treats?
Jamie: I hold them in my hand and using a paring knife I pull off the peel. My friend Erika (also a food blogger) does not peel them. She says her jam turns out like apricot jam, which many people make with the peel. I think since the loquats are small you end up with a lot of peel compared to fruit if you leave the peel on. It really is a messy process. Just keeping pulling. If the fruit isn’t ripe enough pulling off the peel will be impossible and you’ll have to cut it off. I wait until the peel pulls off before I pick my fruit. Does that help??
Best,
Rachel
my son and i made a batch and we did not peel them, we also cut down on the sugar….i also used the entire inside of the lemonafter i juiced it, just added the flesh to the loquats when they were boiling with a some of the lemon zest…..it is delicious….the skins have the vitamins adn added texture….we pulsed the loqauts in the food processor after we pitted them and then did the pectin and then the sugar…it is simply delicious….
I have a loquat tree and it is just now really producing alot of fruit glad to find your recipe. also in Women First magazine was an article on loquats they are good for water bloat and regulating blood sugar . and thanks for all the hints from others
I read that you can parboil the loquats and the skin will come off much like you would remove peach skins.
I just picked TONS of loquats! We have the most amazing tree beside our house here in Irmo, SC. I’m peeling and cutting fruit now for my first ever loquat jam. Thanks for the recipe and beautiful pictures!
Good luck Jan!! You will love this jam. It is so beautiful and tastes otherworldly!
Best,
Rachel
We just finished our own version of this (without the Sure Jell) and it smells like butter! We once made strawberry jam, but it was only strawberries and sugar. It came out more like an ice cream topping, but it was delicious. We just mixed the cut strawberries with 4 cups of sugar, and voilà, strawberry jam! Now we are going to try to make loquat jam Popsicles… We hope they’re good!
Steph and Cloe:
Loquat jam popsicles sound absolutely FABULOUS. I want one!!
How much water is needed or is any needed?
“Once you have all of the fruit prepared, toss the fruit with the pectin and put it in a large pot and bring to a boil. Once it is at a rolling boil take it off of the heat and stir in the sugar.”
Rachel, thought you might like this.
Loquat Sauce for Ice Cream
Combine 2 cups juice from blanched loquats with 2 cups sugar. (see Blanching above) Bring to boil, cook over medium heat until syrup spins a 2-inch thread when dropped from a spoon (230 degrees to 234 degrees Farenheit on candy thermometer), about 20 minutes. Cool completely. Add 2 cups peeled, halved, seeded loquats. Chill, then serve over ice cream. Makes about 3 cups sauce.
Adela – NO water is needed for jam. I’ve never added water to any jam recipe, loquat or otherwise.
Rachel
Adela – that sounds REALLY good. I might have to try it!!
Rachel
Thank you Rachel. I never made a jam before. I love the look of this jam. I have a huge loquat tree and am very excited to try this recipe.
I made this last night and it was awesome.
Loquat lemon mint sorbet
For about 1/2 liter of sorbet:
500 grams peeled and pitted loquats (about 750-800 grams with peels and pits)
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons sugar, give or take
1 tablespoon loosely packed mint leaves (about 5 grams)
Peel and pit the loquats. If the peels don’t come off easily, dunk the loquats in boiling water for a few minutes, and then try peeling.
If you’re not using an ice cream maker, put the cleaned loquats into the freezer and freeze until solid.
Finely chop the mint leaves.
Blend the loquats with the mint, lemon juice and zest (the zest adds texture; leave it out if you want a smoother sorbet) in a food processor. If your loquats were not frozen, put the mixture into an ice cream maker for about 1/2 hour, until frozen.
Let the mixture harden a bit in the freezer.
Adela: Where did you find this loquat recipe? Or is it yours? I’m going to tell my Step-Mom about it. She loves loquats and sorbet and is an avid sorbet maker.
Thanks for sharing.
Rachel
Rachel: http://food.lizsteinberg.com/tag/loquat/
Oh-and I love your site!
It has been up on my computer for a week.
Thank you!
Adela: Thanks for the kind words! Have a good weekend.
Rachel
Hi Rachel, you’re so lucky to have your own loquat tree. It’s hard for us to find the fresh fruits here. The only thing I could find here was the dried leaves and flowers for making tea. They can relief bad cough. The colour of the jam is so pretty adn tempting. Thanks for sharing.
Kristy
Our loquats are now ripe – Perth, Australia – and I am a keen jam maker. I will try a small batch, but cooking hard to drive off virtually all of the water as I do with all my other jams. I will also leave the skins on.
Hello Rachel
Our school in Wollongong NSW Australia has a huge loquat tree just full of fruit! Now I know what to do with it. Thanks for all the recipes and tips.
Maybe could be a good fund raiser for the school. I hope the fruit bats don’t find the tree before we get to work!
Has anyone successfully dried the loquat seeds for craft or jewelry projects? the jam recipe you have given is really yummy… thanks … But i just love the seeds such a wonderful colour, smooth texture and shapes. They would make great set of neaklace beads… ta
Sue:
I really don’t know anything about using the loquat seeds for jewelry. I think you’ll need to search come jewelry sites, rather than food blogs for that. Good luck. They are quite beautiful as objects!
Rachel
I have found that loquats will keep very well after picking (almost a week, so far (in New Zealand)) if they are picked by cutting the stalk and removing the whole cluster of fruit at once instead of pulling off the fruit one at a time.
Bob: That’s an interesting technique. There are other fruits that do better if you handle them that way. We should try that!!
Enjoy,
Rachel