My friend Margaret gave me a whopping big bag of pineapple guavas (Feijoa sellowiana or Acca sellowiana) from her tree last week. I turned them into jam, and I swear, it’s the best jam I’ve ever made. I tweaked her recipe a bit, so I’ll give you both versions. They both make a wonderful jam. You’ll need 7-10 lbs of guavas for this recipe.
This is what seven pounds of pineapple guavas look like.
Margaret’s Guava Spice Jam
4 C Guava pulp (scooped with lime juice added to prevent discoloration)
3 C Sugar
1-2 T grated fresh ginger root
3 T lemon or lime juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
Combine and cook slowly until thick, stirring often, about 30-45 minutes. Pour into hot, sterilized jars, and seal immediately. You can substitute finely chopped orange or lemon (including peel) for part of guava.
I had one ripe Meyer lemon and one ripe Valencia orange left on my trees, plus my Granny Smith apples are now ready to harvest, so I decided to use them. My gingerroot is just barely old enough to harvest, so I went sparingly on that. I wanted to keep the bright yellow pineapple color of the guava, so I used whole spices instead of ground. Here was what my recipe turned into.
Lou’s Pineapple Guava Spice Jam
4 C guava pulp
1 apple, quartered
1 orange, grated peel, pulp and juice only
1 lemon, grated peel, pulp and juice only
1 lime, juiced
2 sticks cinnamon
1 tsp whole allspice
2-3 tsp freshly grated gingerroot
3 C sugar
Scoop out enough gelatinous centers of guavas to fill 4 C and put into a pan. Quarter a tart apple and add to the pan. Tie 2 cinnamon sticks and 1 tsp allspice into a cheesecloth bag and add to pulp. Cook guava pulp and apple with a squeeze of lemon juice for 20 minutes. Remove bag of spices and reserve. Put pulp through a colander or strainer. Put strained pulp back into pan and add grated peel and juice of 1 Meyer lemon and 1 orange and the reserved spice bag. Squeeze lemon and orangejuice into a measuring cup and add enough lime juice to equal 3/4 C. Add citrus juice to pulp along with 2 tsp of freshly grated gingerroot and 3 C of sugar. Cook for about 45-55 minutes or until jam sheets from a spoon instead of separating into two streams. Pour into clean, hot jars, seal, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Yields five 8-oz. jars of jam.
I used whole allspice and whole cinnamon in my jam, plus my first harvest of ginger, a Meyer lemon, and a Valencia orange (not pictured).
I used a grapefruit spoon to scoop out the guava pulp.
I composted the thick, hard rinds.
This is the pan of guava pulp before addition of the apples and spices, and before cooking.
This is the jam after it has been strained and cooked down.
After processing the jam in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, I put the jars onto a cloth towel to cool.
This jam was so good that I begged another bag of guavas from Margaret so I could make another batch. Since her tree produces about 10-15 lbs of guavas a day for several weeks, this was no problem. I’m off to the kitchen!
May 10, 2012
There has been a lot of discussion about the name of this fruit, with different people calling it different things. According to one source, the scientific name is Feijoa sellowiana. According to Wikipedia, the genus name is Acca, not Feijoa. Common names include pineapple guava, feijoa (apparently the most popular name for it in New Zealand) and guavasteen. But a fruit by any name tastes the same. ENJOY!
About Lou Murray, Ph.D.
I'm a retired medical researcher, retired professional writer/photographer, avid gardener, and active environmentalist living in southern California. I wrote a weekly newspaper column on environmental topics in the Huntington Beach Independent for many years. I also supervised environmental restoration projects and taught at the Orange County Conservation Corps before retiring in the summer of 2016. This blog chronicles my efforts to live a green life growing as much food as possible for my husband and myself on a 4,500 sq ft yard that is covered mainly by house, garage, driveway, and sidewalks. I am also dedicated to combatting global climate change.
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