Persimmon Jam is a low-sugar or low-honey cooked jam made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- 4 cups pureed or mashed persimmon pulp see step #3
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
- 4 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- ½ cup lemon juice bottled
- ½ cup up to 1 cup honey or ¾ cup up to 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin mixed with sweetener
Instructions
- Before you begin, prepare calcium water.To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
- Wash jars, lids, and bands. Place jars in canner, fill canner 2/3 full with water, bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and keep jars in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids in water in a small sauce pan; cover and heat to a low boil. Turn off heat and keep lids in hot water until ready to use.
- Remove calyx from 5 to 6 large, fully ripe Hachiya persimmons or about 8 average size Fuyu persimmons. For Hachiyas, scoop out pulp and puree it. Don’t use the peel. For Fuyus, peel, chop, and mash or peel, chop, and puree. If Fuyus are too firm to mash or puree, then peel, chop, and put the pieces in a sauce pan with a little water. Simmer until soft, then mash or puree.
- Measure 4 cups of mashed or pureed pulp into sauce pan.
- Add calcium water and lemon juice, and mix well.
- Measure sugar or room temperature honey into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sweetener. Set aside.
- Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-sweetener mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jam comes back up to a boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
- Fill hot jars to ¼” of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2-piece lids. Put filled jars in boiling water to cover. Boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level). Remove from water. Let jars cool. Check seals; lids should be sucked down. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
Carol
I just used this recipe (added cinnamon) and it turned out perfect.
Amy
I could not get this to work with hachiya persimmons. I scooped out the puree from the hachiya persimmons and the pulp was so sweet and delicious. As soon as I put it on the stove and made this recipe, it turned into a very cakey, astringent mess. I had to toss this whole thing. Has this recipe been tested for hachiya persimmons? I wonder if the heat changes its chemical properties?
Sandy from San Diego
Not sure what happened. I followed the recipe as written. It poured fine. The extra that didn’t fill a jar for canning went into the fridge. It came out thick like pudding and kind of plain. Tasted fine as a snack, but not spreadable. Might try it with cinnamon next time.
ROSEMARY BROOME
Does this jam recipe allow the gorgeous persimmon color to remain with Hachiya? I have tried to jam Hachiyas a few times and although taste is ok, it loses its lovely translucent color and looks just plain rather ugly. If this recipe retains that gorgeous color, I will be delighted!
Mona MacCormack
I am using this recipe for American persimmons, the native type. I am waiting for it to get to a boil, but it is so incredibly thick, that I cannot imagine it coming to a boil, nor can I imagine adding something to it as a thickener. I am following this recipe, and I already added the calcium water. I have added some water several times now in an effort to thin it but it’s just not happening. it seems like it is getting thicker every time I add water. It is now the consistency of relatively dry mashed potatoes,
I’m afraid it’s going to burn. This is an interesting experiment :-).
sahara heaney
Has anyone noticed when ready to print, and select different final-cup-quantity-result, the measurement of puree in STEP #4, does not change. Am I missing something?
Thank you
Shelby Collings
Hello Sahara,
Yes, that is a glitch in the platform for our recipe formatter, so sorry!!
Michelle
Can this be made with wild American Persimmons?
Shelby Collings
Hello Michelle,
Great question! We have not used American Persimmons in this recipe so we cannot say for sure, but from our research, we see many sites that note that American Persimmons and Fuyu can be used interchangeably. We do have one customer who let us know that when she used American Persimmons in this recipe, it came out very thick and she needed to add a bit of unsweetened juice to make the jam work to her liking.
Should you give it a try, we would love to hear how it turns out!
Sarah
For Sophia Wright: I trust that the people at Pomona sure know what they are doing. Still, I wonder whether the Vitamix is indeed the problem. I can bushels of peaches every year and generally have no trouble with siphoning. I often eat the peaches after blending (with yogurt – yum) into smoothies. So on two years I tried pureeing the raw peaches before canning. I left plenty of headroom, even a bit extra, and allowed the jars a good cooling in the kettle. Even so, I had trouble with siphoning with every batch of puree. I do think blenders incorporate air into fruit pulps that doesn’t readily stir out. I’ve since stuck to canning only peach pieces and all is well! For jam instead I use an old fashioned hand-crank meat grinder to make fruit puree, with no air trouble.
Jessica
I used hachiya persimmons. I tasted each persimmon for astringency, and the purée and it was fine, but after I finished the recipe the entire batch had to be tossed. The astringency was yucky after cooking, making that unpleasant (to me) numbing feel throughout my mouth after trying a teaspoon full. Also the texture was grainy! And it had a cereal like flavor. I was VERY disappointed. Had to compost entire batch ☹️ I’ll use fuyu if I ever try this again.
Jessica
Can I double the recipe?
Shelby Collings
Hello Jessica,
You sure can! Happy jamming. 😊
Simone
I wonder if you have an allergy to persimmons? I get a weird numb feeling in my mouth when I try food I have an allergy to.
Judy Cume
can this recipe be made without sugar or with other artificial, or
monkfruit sweetener and still be safe to waterbath can?
Shelby Collings
Hello Judy,
It sure can! You will just need to follow the conversion on the sweetener you are using. Happy jamming!
Joyce Stiler
Can you use frozen pulp?
Shelby Collings
You sure can!
It’s best to use unsweetened frozen fruit. Defrost, but don’t drain, frozen fruit before using. Generally you use the liquid from the frozen fruit along with the fruit unless you notice that there is an excessive amount of liquid, in which case you would ladle off some of the excess liquid before measuring your mashed fruit. If you are going to juice the fruit for jelly, then you would use all of the liquid.
Gail Goodman
I just made this with a little ginger and vanilla paste. So YUMMY!
Shelby Collings
Yum!!!
Barbara
Can vanilla persimmons be used in this recipe?
Shelby Collings
Hello Barbara,
Thanks so much for reaching out! We have never used Vanilla Persimmons, but you are welcome to give them a try. If you do, we would love to hear how it turns out.
Happy jamming!
Sophia Wright
Great Recipe! Love it! I made one batch with fuyu persimmons and cinnamon. Then I made a second batch with a mix of hachiya and fuyu persimmons with vanilla. I will probably make a third batch.
Sophia Wright
I had siphoning with both batches (the lids all sealed but cleaning off the outside of the jars is extra work). I was careful to leave 1/4 inch headspace. I pureed my persimmon pulp in a Vitamix. Could that be the problem (incorporating more air)? Is it the type of pectin (I would still use it because of the low sugar but at least I would know why). Do you have any other ideas for why? Thank you. I don’t know if it would be safe to increase the headspace for my next batch?
Shelby Collings
When you placed the jam into the hot jars, did you release the air bubbles within the jar…with either a specific jam tool or with a skewer or chop stick? It definitely is not the pectin, and we do not believe it is due to pureeing it in the vitamix.