It’s loquat season and trees in my neighborhood are loaded down with fruit. Most people seem to have the trees for decorative purposes and don’t realize that loquats are fantastic eating… which means I luck into an abundance of loquats! A friend of mine has a loquat tree in her backyard and has been making loquat jam for years. She shared her recipe with me, and I used my loquat bounty to play around with modifications until I hit on this version that consistently wows friends and family.

Guessipe

• 8 cups loquat (peeled, seeded, and quartered)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp five spice
• 1 TBSP triple sec
• 1/2 tsp cardamom

Stir the loquat, sugar, and brown sugar together in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Stir in the five spice. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently until the jam thickens enough to leave a trail on the bottom of the pot when a spoon is dragged through it (about 40-60 minutes).

Stir in triple sec and cardamom and cook until the jam thickens back up.

Use a spoon to break up any large chunks of loquat, leaving smaller chunks for nice texture.