Using Guavas: Jelly and Paste

Guava Jelly
If you are fortunate enough to have a guava tree in your garden then you will no doubt, have more fruit than you can eat or know what to do with so gather them up & pop them in a pot & make some guava jelly..the most divine jelly you have ever tasted, truly!

Sort through your gathered fruit discarding any guavas that are going off.
Give them a bit of a rinse off, pop them in to a pot & just cover with water.

Bring them to the boil & simmer for 10 minutes or until tender.

Tip into a sieve & let all the juices drip through.

(My grandmother used to hang the fruit in muslin over the bath in order to get every last drip of juice)

Return the juice to the (heavy bottomed pot) measuring as you do so that you then add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar to every cup of juice.

Jellies are best made in small batches anyway.
Put this mix back on the stove & stir to dissolve the sugar.
Some recipes suggest that you add some lemon juice to the mixture..up to you.
Bring to the boil & cook for 10/20 minutes or until when you put a little jelly on to a cold saucer & wait a minute or so a wrinkly skin forms in the top of the jelly (rather than it justs runs off the saucer).

While the jelly is cooking sort out your nicest jars, give them a good wash in hot soapy water, rinse & pop them in to the oven on a medium oven for 20 minutes to sterilize them.
At the setting point carefully pour the hot jelly in to your jars.
Seal with a jam seal & rubberband.

 Make a pretty label if you like. Utterly heaven on a spoon.

Now, rather than throw all that fruit in to the compost have a go at making some paste..it's worth it.

Guava Paste
Before you go to all the trouble of washing the pot out push the guavas through a sieve with a wooden spoon until you just have seeds left & you're sick of the process.

Once again add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar to each cup of fruit pulp.

 Now the paste takes a good deal longer than the jelly. Put on a really low heat & keep stirring every now again for the period of several hours until it starts to really thicken up & begins to come a way from the sides of the pot.
Pour in to oiled moulds or spread on to greased proof paper & leave lightly covered to firm up for a day or two.

Serve with cheese & fruit & oat biscuits or crackers if you like.. so yummy!!!

This pic via the New Zealand Gardener magazine April 2011
The same process applies to making almost any jelly or fruit paste. I have just made quince paste & feijoa which is also delicious!

Katie