saying goodbye to loquats: delilah's loquat butter recipe

so this month we can say goodbye to the mighty loquat. most people don't know what it is or they know it as "hey i have that tree!-i didnt know what it was!" fruit. the season lasts about a month, or as soon a you start noticing it. personally, despite the pain that they are (short season, lasts 2 days after picking, are a b- to prep), i love the flavor. i am hoping that by canning them, the loquat fever will spread.this season, i had many successful loquat adventures. i was able to find several trees all over Orange County that had exceptionally large fruit and i had a few people join me on picking adventures!

(picking up loquats from Calacas)

(massive loquats from a tree in Tustin)

(Don & i getting loquats from a tree @ a church in Santiago-i climbed the top of the bus to get as much as possible!)

well if you are still able to get your hands on some loquats and you want to do something, here is a copy of my loquat butter-i just entered this at the OC fair, so if i win, that means it's good!

DELILAH'S LOQUAT BUTTER

• 4-5 lbs loquats, seeds removed
• 1/2 c water
• 2 c sugar
• 1 1/2 c honey
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 2 tbs cinnamon

first, do the painstaking task of cleaning and de-seeding the loquats (get some friends to do this-promise them a jar,-it's worth it)

you can skin them if you want, but once you do abut 10, you might change your mind!  put the loquats and water in a non-reactive pot on medium heat until they get really soft.
now you can do one of 2 things: 1) blend and put back in the pot or 2) put through a food mill-it depends on whether you want the skins-personally it really doesn't matter.

(i got this great immersion blender for my b-day- LOVE IT!)

put back in the pot to cook and add the rest of the ingredients, and cook until thickened at least 30 min, maybe more-have fun on that part!  watch the loquats, if they burn you will be really pissed that you just spent the last 3-4 hours for nothing.  prepare jars and lids, and fill to 1/4" headspace.  process for 10 min in a boiling water bath.

(finished!)