Yesterday I saw on Facebook that one of my neighbors had a downed branch on their overloaded star fruit tree. The fruit had to be harvested right away. "Come and get it!" they said.
I love free fruit. Free fruit = jelly.
Before long I was trotting home with a large paper sack loaded with big, star-shaped, yellow and green fruits. I got out all my canning gear and was ready to get started.
Except guess what, I could not find a recipe for star fruit JELLY anywhere on the internet. There was jam. There was marmalade. No jelly. What?
Google, you've failed me!
Anyway, I decided to do some experiments and come up with a perfect star fruit jelly recipe of my very own. Here it is, in case you are ever blessed with a giant bag of unexpected star fruit:
Star Fruit Jelly - Makes 6 cups.
4 cups star fruit juice
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp lime juice
1.75 ounce package of powdered pectin (I used Sure-Jell)
6 cups of sugar
To get the juice I used a steam juicer. I washed the fruit, sliced it in 2-3 pieces, pulled out any obvious seeds, and filled up the steamer basket. After processing for an hour, I drained off enough juice for 2 batches of jelly.
If you don't have a steam juicer, you can put the fruit in a pot, add some water and simmer for 30 minutes, then squeeze it all through a jelly bag. If you like that kind of punishment.
Trust me, just get a steam juicer. You'll thank me later.
Prepare enough jars to hold 6 cups of jelly, plus lids and bands. Wash them in hot, soapy water, rinse, and place on a rack in a simmering water bath canner to stay hot until ready to be filled.
Carefully measure 6 cups of sugar into a separate bowl.
Put 4 cups of star fruit juice, the lemon and lime juice, and the powdered pectin in a large pot. Stir until pectin is dissolved. Cook on high heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches a full, rolling boil.
Add sugar. Continue to cook and stir until the mixture returns to a full, rolling boil. Boil for two minutes. Remove from heat. Skim off foam with a metal spoon.
Immediately ladle into hot jars, cover with lids, and screw on bands. Return full jars to the water bath canner. Add enough water to cover jars by 1-2 inches and bring to a gentle boil. Cover and boil for 5 minutes. Remove jars and place them on a towel on the counter to cool and set for 24 hours.
Enjoy!
