tamarillo jam

I work on an organic farm and my boss grew some tamarillos (if you look it up, it's not tomate de arbol because those are bigger. And tomate de árbol is gross but these are yummy, though slightly bitter. It's the small yellow ones that grow in a bush, like blueberries. Cyphomandra abutiloides). Anyway, she couldn't sell them and her family doesn't like them but we do!

So she said to take as many as I wanted. I brought home all I could pick and I want to make jam. My husband wants me to add some heat to one of the jars. This is a recipe I found that I think will work. It's for blueberries and they are sort of similar:

4 cups berries
1 T lemon juice (I plan to use 1/4 tsp citric acid)
1/4 cup water
2 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp allspice

My question is if I add a teeny bit of heat (like 1/8 tsp dried ghost pepper), do I have to adjust the acidity? It's tricky since this is not a fruit used much in the States.

can't help with your question, however in NZ tamarillos are Solanum betaceum, which are quite different to your tamarillos.
If the fruit are under ripe, they probably won't need the extra acid - the lemon juice is to help the jam to set.
You might want to gently cook the berries without adding any water and only add if really necessary as the water will also inhibit setting.
Keep us posted on how it turns out.

Megan Palmer wrote:can't help with your question, however in NZ tamarillos are Solanum betaceum, which are quite different to your tamarillos.
If the fruit are under ripe, they probably won't need the extra acid - the lemon juice is to help the jam to set.
You might want to gently cook the berries without adding any water and only add if really necessary as the water will also inhibit setting.
Keep us posted on how it turns out.

Thank you, Megan. I did end up making it. The recipe I posted above made the fruit WAY too bitter, so I added another tablespoon of lemon juice, plus some salt (half a teaspoon? teaspoon? I noted the change but don't have it in front of me). This did help. The berries floated but it looks good. Haven't opened any of the jars yet.

If I have any next year, I will probably just eat them straight off of the plant.

For future reference, I have never had to adjust acidity when adding a bit of hot stuff to jam.  I like chile in my jam :D

Pearl Sutton wrote:For future reference, I have never had to adjust acidity when adding a bit of hot stuff to jam.  I like chile in my jam :D

Apologies in advance for hijacking your thread Constancia, however i have to mention crab apple jelly with chilies is amazing. Equally as tasty with cheese, meat or on hot buttered toast or fresh scones😋