Indulge in natures unusual bounty with this naturally sweetened Honey Loquat Butter, which is just begging to be spread on some fresh crusty bread or used as a sweetener in baked goods.
If you are lucky enough to have a loquat tree in your yard, or a neighbor with a loquat tree then you are going to just love this recipe. Especially if your tree ripens all at once and you need to use up a LOT of fruit in a very short period of time. I actually even noticed some loquats at the farmers market this year for the first time, so if you happen to come across some be sure to snatch them up, they won’t last long and they taste just delicious.
We arrived home from a lovely family vacation in San Diego yesterday, only to discover that our loquat tree was just bulging with fruit needing to be used up before it got all wrinkly and gross. I have a delicious loquat crumble recipe which you can find below, but an entire tree full of fruit calls for a recipe that can use up pounds of the stuff in a quick and timely manner.
Grab the recipe for my delicious Loquat Cobbler in Mini Mason Jars right here.
There is something oddly rewarding with preserving fruits and vegetables when you are faced with an unusual amount that needs to be used up quickly. And this was certainly no exception. We used up THREE buckets of loquats just making honey loquat butter and I for one feel awesome! I will also be gifting this stuff until the cows come home, but thats a problem I don’t mind having.
I used honey as a sweetener here as I had a beautiful delicate local honey which paired just perfectly with the flavor of the loquats. They are so sweet on their own, they really didn’t require much sweetening at all, but you may want to add more honey depending on how sweet you like your fruit butters.
Do you have any loquat recipes you love to use when spring hits and the loquats are plentiful? Feel free to share them in the comments, I am sure everyone would love to hear all about them. Happy eating.
Indulge in natures unusual bounty with this naturally sweetened Honey Loquat Butter, which is just begging to be spread on some fresh crusty bread or used as a sweetener in baked goods.
- 3 lbs loquats, halved and de-seeded
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
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Add the halved and de-seeded loquats to a large saucepan. Add enough water just to cover the loquats. Bring to a boil, once boiling, reduce heat and allow loquats to simmer for 15-20 minutes. Loquats should be tender but intact
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Drain water from the loquats. Place loquats in a high powered blender and blend until desired consistency is reached (I like mine smooth but it can be chunky as well)
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Put loquat puree back to the saucepan. Add in the honey and lemon juice and stir well to combine. Heat over a medium heat until the butter has thickened slightly, stirring often to prevent burning on the bottom. This should take 15-20 mins
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Remove from heat and allow to cool completely before transferring to glass jars and storing in the fridge
I thought that I was pretty well versed with ingredients, but I’ve never even heard of loquats before. What do they taste like? From the look, I’m imagining an apricot flavor, but I have no idea. That said, there’s nothing more satisfying than preserving fruits and vegetables when you have a huge bounty… We face the same every year when my Mom’s guava tree starts producing… Love this.
Oh believe me, I had never heard of them until we moved into this house and ended up with a tree growing THOUSANDS!! They are like a cross between apricot and kumquat, so good but a little tedious to work with given the massive seed in every one.