Pawpaw Jam

Paw Paw Jam is made from the largest native fruit in North American.  

What is Paw Paw Fruit?

I don’t know if you have ever heard of a Pawpaw, but today I will introduce you to the largest native fruit in the continental United States.  It may also be the weirdest looking and oddest tasting fruit we have.  It grows wild in the Southeast and the fruit can sometimes grow to be a pound or more.  It can also grow to be pretty ugly and the fruit, once ripe, does not last long before turning a wonderful brownish/black.

What does Pawpaw fruit taste like?

The flesh on the inside is orange in color with a custard like texture and a few large seeds in the middle.  Once you bite into one you will be deciding on what kind of flavor you are experiencing because it tastes like a cross between many things.  Mango, peach, papaya, banana and maybe a few more.  It truly has it’s own unique flavor.

I was gifted a couple of bags of ripe Pawpaw’s so I decided to try my hand at making some Pawpaw jam.  So if you are lucky enough to come across about 10 pounds of this native fruit, try this pawpaw jam recipe.  I think it would go lovely on some homemade biscuits.

How to make pawpaw jam

1. start heating the water bath canner to bring to a boil. It will need to be boiling to process the jars of jam and seal them
2. Keep sterilized jars, lids and rings simmering in a saucepan of hot water
3. To make the pawpaw puree, peal the pawpaw fruit and cut the fruit into chunks and then smash into a puree with a potato masher.
4. In a large, heavy saucepan, add the pawpaw puree and water. bring to a slow boil, stirring, careful not to scorch
5. bring mixture down to a simmer
6. cook for 10 minutes, remove from heat
7. Add the rest of the ingredients. stirring well to combine
8. return to heat & simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently
9. fill pint or 1/2 pint jars with the mixture leaving 1/4 inch headspace
10. wipe rim and place lids and rings on the jar
11. place the jars in the water bath canner, making sure the tops of the jars are covered with an inch of water
12. bring back up to a boil and process in boiling water 10 minutes
13. remove jars from water and let cool
14. check for a proper seal after 24 hours. When the jars seal you will hear a “ping” sound and the middle of the jar lid will be drown down.

Other popular jam recipes:

Low Sugar Peach Jam

Low Sugar Strawberry Jam

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