The berries are very tart - I believe you can eat them raw, although I'm certainly not going to have a go ;-) - but they do make a very nice jam. Not having a sweet tooth, I love the tart flavour much more than the sickly-sweet strawberry jam my kids favour. I harvest them by holding a large bowl underneath the clusters and rubbing them gently; the ripe and almost ripe ones fall off easily into the bowl. Just beware of coming face-to-face with a cranky parrot, as my husband did when I sent him out for a second harvest :-)
Lilly Pilly Jam
1. Rinse the berries and pick over them well to remove any leaves or spoiled berries (and the odd bug or two).
2. Place the berries in saucepan, just covered with water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for around 30 minutes, until the berries have lost their colour and the seeds have separated from the pulp.
3. At this point you can make Lilly Pilly Jelly by straining the mixture through a fine muslin - leave the pulp to drain for several hours and don't be tempted to push on the pulp, as this will result in a cloudy jelly.
If you wish to make Lilly Pilly Jam, simply push the pulp through a food mill or sieve, to remove the seeds (it will also remove the skins and much of the flesh).
4. Measure the amount of liquid you have and return it to the pan. Add the same volume of sugar and the juice of 1 lemon per litre (quart) of liquid.
5. Return the mixture to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then reduce heat to a high simmer for around 30 minutes. Test for setting by spooning a small teaspoonful onto a cold saucer and placing in the freezer for a minute; if it has formed a skin on the surface when you run your finger through it, it is set. if not, continue to simmer until it passes the test.
6. Bottle into hot, sterilised jars.
7. Enjoy on toast or scones :-)
Cheers,
10 comments:
I will have to try and make some as I have never tried it. I am pretty sure I remember a lilly pilly in one of the local parks so I'll give it a go.
Kind Regards
Belinda
Yummo! We have one of these trees in our backyard so I look forward to making some of this delicious looking jam when the fruit is ready.
Congratulations on such a great blog. I am really enjoying looking through your old posts.
Take care
I've just put in 2 lilly pillys and can't wait for them to fruit in a few years to make some jam.
Great timing! I have access to loads of berries at the moment. Thanks also for your previous post about lunchboxes. I have had the NudeFood ones, which are great in theory but tend to warp and break quite quickly. I've ordered a couple of Tupperware ones like you mentioned. Ta.
Thanks Julie - great to get a recipe for using Lilly Pillies. Brilliant, Cheers, Wendy
Any tarty jam gets a tick from me! I never seem to see these about, I will have to look a bit better...
Hi ladies!
I hope you enjoy the jam, it has quite a distinct taste but is very nice.
Lanie, my kids have caned their Tupperware lunch boxes and apart from one which has a chipped edge now, they have done well for the abuse they receive. More expensive of course, but the replacement guarantee helps!
Cheers,
Julie
Happily found some yesterday :-)
Yay! Sounds like you'll enjoy the jam
:-)
Hi!
We linked to this post and recipe on our blog Lemonade Learning in the 'City Tucker' post.
http://lemonadelearning.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/city-tucker.html
Thank you for the recipe although we don't have enough berries to make jam. Maybe next year!
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