Passion Fruit Jelly Using the Ball Jam & Jelly Maker

Years ago my family took one of several trips to Hawaii.  This particular trip I was about twelve or thirteen and we were staying for a week so my parents rented a condo.  Having a condo allowed us to cook some meals rather than eating out for a family of four every meal.

I remember going to the grocery store with my mom and buying Passion Fruit juice.  It was a staple on the island and was so good that we went back for several half gallons of the sweet tropical juice.

Passion fruit is cultivated commercially in tropical and subtropical areas for its sweet, seedy fruit. The passion fruit is a pepo, a type of berry, round to oval, either yellow or dark purple at maturity, with a soft to firm, juicy interior filled with numerous seeds. The fruit can be eaten or juiced.  The passion fruit's flavor can be compared to that of the guava fruit.

It would be years later before we found passion fruit juice in the states and even then it was only sold in tin cans, no very appetizing.  Over the years my mom and I have found Passion Fruit flavored teas and they are a favorite.

With the holidays in mind I wanted to make my mom a jelly for her scones and hot tea with that sweet, tropical flavor.   It's a good thing my Ball Jam and Jelly Maker is still out!

You can make jelly from almost any type of fruit juice: apple, grape, pomegranate, raspberry, blueberry, peach, apricot, mixed berry, etc; as long as it is 100% juice (without additives).  Also make sure the juice doesn't have added Calcium, calcium will prevent your pectin from jelling your product.

Passion Fruit Jelly

3 cups Welch’s Passion Fruit Juice (in the refrigerated section)

4 Tbsp. Ball RealFruitTM Classic Pectin

1/2 tsp. butter

3 1/3 cups sugar

DIRECTIONS

• Allow the juice to come to room temperature.  I sat mine out on the counter for about an hour, just so it is not refrigerator cold. Measure 3 cups juice in a 4-cup or larger bowl.  Gradually whisk pectin into juice until it’s fully incorporated.  (Pectin will not be completely dissolved at this time.) 

• Pour juice mixture into the clean Ball Jam and Jelly Maker Pot fitted with the Stirrer.  Add a small sliver of butter to help reduce foaming.

• Press jelly button – the cook time will automatically default to 25 minutes. Press Enter.

• Wait 4 minutes for appliance to sound 4 short beeps indicating that it is time to add sugar. Add sugar gradually while Stirrer continues running. Place the Glass Lid on the Pot.

• The machine will continue to automatically stir your ingredients while it cooks. Stay within earshot of the Jam and Jelly Maker, the appliance will beep again at the end of the process signaling jam cooking is complete. Press cancel, unplug the appliance and remove the glass lid.

Remove the stirrer using a pot holder.  And begin ladling into your jars!

Ladle hot jelly into hot jars, leaving ¼ headspace. Wipe rim and center lid on jar. Screw band on until fingertip-tight. Place jar in boiling water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.

Process jars for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude.  This recipe will yield four 8oz pints of jelly!

So how does it taste?  Oh my goodness, it tastes like a sweet, fruity, almost honey flavor! 

Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.  Matthew 12:33