Homemade Passion Fruit Jam will add a wonderful tropical flavour to your toast, cakes and desserts! This small batch passion fruit jam recipe is easy to make with or without pectin powder.
Perfect addition to my Easy Yogurt Cake!
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It’s no secret that I adore the unique tart-but-sweet exotic taste of passion fruit! It’s the flavour behind the Passion Fruit Martini, hugely popular Pornstar Martini and its cake version.
I was recently gifted a small jar of passion fruit preserves and I loved it so much I set out to make my own homemade version of Passion Fruit Jam.
I tried a couple of different methods – both very easy – and I am totally thrilled with the results! Passion fruit jam is out of this world delicious, wonderfully tart and not too sweet.
Simply perfect for swirling through whipped cream or yogurt, spooning onto cakes or using to sandwich cookies. It also makes a wonderful edible gift of preserved tropical sunshine!
Get to know Passion Fruit
Passion fruit is a tropical fruit filled with a soft and juicy interior studded with edible black seeds. Also known as… Passion fruit goes by the lyrical name lilikoi in Hawai and maracujá Brazil.
We are most familiar with the smaller purple skinned variety (Passiflora edulis) in the UK, but there are other edible varieties as well, such as the larger yellow skinned Passiflora flavicarpa.
Soft Set Passion Fruit Jam
The thin membrane inside the tough outer skin of passion fruit is naturally high in pectin so it can be used to make a slightly soft set jam without added pectin powder.
Need to know: the purple skinned passion fruit variety which I used turns a vibrant plum colour when cooked. If you want to keep your passion fruit jam the sunny yellow of the pulp you must use the yellow variety.
You will need the pulp from several passion fruit, the reserved shells, granulated sugar and lemon or lime juice. A small knob of butter can reduce the amount of frothy scum in your jam. Alternatively you can simply skim off the top it using a spoon.
Passion Fruit Jam with Added Pectin
For this version of the recipe you will need pectin powder in addition to the passion fruit pulp, sugar and lemon juice. Sachets of pectin powder can easily be purchased in supermarkets or on Amazon.
Alternatively you can use preserving sugar (Jam Sugar) which has pectin and citric acid already added in.
How to Make Passion Fruit Jam
Give your passion fruit a quick wash in the sink, or in a large bowl full of water. Slice using a small sharp serrated knife and use a spoon to scrape the pulp and seeds into a jar, making a note of the weight. Keep the jar in the fridge until needed and reserve the shells.
Add the shells of the passion fruit to a large pot, cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 minutes then strain, reserving the cooking water.
Scoop out the tender inner flesh discarding the outer skin. Use an immersion blender or food processor to blitz to a smooth purée. (Remember to use yellow passion fruit if possible).
Combine this purée with the passion fruit pulp you have in your fridge, the sugar, water and lemon juice in a large stainless steel pot. Stir over low heat to dissolve the sugar then increase heat and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat to low and continue to simmer the jam, only occasionally stirring to make sure the fruit doesn’t catch. Add a small knob of butter to reduce any grayish bubbles (scum) forming.
Cook for approximately 15 minutes, or until the bubbles die down and the jam is glossy. Spoon a small amount onto a cold plate and run a finger through it – it should leave a clean trail. Better yet, use a digital thermometer to check it has reached setting temperature of 105°C / 220°F.
TOP TIP: Did you overcook your jam? Bring some unsweetened apple juice to a boil and stir into the hot jam, a little at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency. Remember the jam will set further as it cools.
Spoon the hot jam into (hot) sterilised jars, seal, cool and store in your pantry. Alternatively spoon the cooled jam into clean jars (I run them through the dishwasher) and store them in the fridge for up to a month.
Easy Passion Fruit Jam With Preserving Sugar
Watch the video for a demo of this version! Put the passion fruit pulp, sugar/pectin, water and lemon juice in a large stainless steel pot. Stir over low heat to dissolve the sugar then bring to a rolling boil.
Reduce to a simmer over low heat, adding the butter if using, and cook for 15 minutes stirring only occasionally to make sure the jam doesn’t stick. Spoon a small amount onto a cold plate and run a finger through it – it should leave a clean trail.
Spoon the hot jam into (hot) sterilised jars, seal, cool and store in your pantry. Alternatively spoon the cooled jam into clean jars (I run them through the dishwasher) and store them in the fridge for up to a month.
Essential Tools
Here’s what you will need to make my jam recipe!
- A stainless steel pot (do not use reactive pots such as cast iron)
- Small jam jars with lids (I love these 4oz Ball jars) or you can reuse any lidded clean jam jar
Serving Suggestions
- Spread over toast – especially my overnight sourdough or no knead bread.
- Use instead of fresh passion fruit in this Pornstar Martini Cake
- Perfect topping for my delicious and super easy Yogurt Cake
- Spoon over meringue nests
- Use in cocktails such as this Passion fruit Caipirinha
You will also like…
HAVE YOU MADE MY PASSION FRUIT JAM RECIPE? Please leave a rating, post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes and make my day!
Passion Fruit Jam
Ingredients
Passion Fruit Jam
- 12 passion fruit , pulp only
- 250 g (1 cup) passion fruit flesh
- 250 g (1 ¼ cup) granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 300 ml (1 ¼ cups) cooking water
- 1 tsp butter (optional)
Passion Fruit Jam With Preserving Sugar
- 12 passion fruit , pulp only
- 250 g (1 ¼ cup) preserving sugar
- 1 tsp butter (optional)
Passion Fruit Jam With Added Pectin
- 12 passion fruit , pulp only
- 250 g (1 ¼ cup) granulated sugar
- ½ tsp pectin powder
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 300 ml (1 ¼ cups) cooking water
- 1 tsp butter (optional)
Instructions
Passion Fruit Jam
- Give your passion fruit a quick wash in the sink, or in a large bowl full of water. Slice using a small sharp serrated knife and use a spoon to scrape the pulp and seeds into a jar, making a note of the weight. We will be using 1:1 sugar to fruit ratio in this jam. Keep the jar in the fridge until needed and reserve the shells.
- Add the shells of the passion fruit to a large pot, cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 minutes then strain, reserving the cooking water.
- Scoop out the tender inner flesh discarding the outer skin. Use an immersion blender or food processor to blitz to a smooth puree.
- Combine the purée, passion fruit pulp, sugar, water and lemon juice in a large stainless steel pot. Stir over low heat to dissolve the sugar then increase heat and bring to the boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and continue to simmer the jam, only occasionally stirring to make sure the fruit doesn’t catch. Add a small knob of butter to reduce any grayish bubbles (scum) forming.
- Cook for approximately 15 minutes, or until the bubbles die down and the jam is glossy. Spoon a small amount onto a cold plate and run a finger through it – it should leave a clean trail.
- Spoon the hot jam into (hot) sterilised jars, seal, cool and store in your pantry. Alternatively spoon the cooled jam into clean jars (I run them through the dishwasher) and store them in the fridge for up to a month.
Passion Fruit Jam With Preserving Sugar
- Put the passion fruit pulp, preserving sugar and water in a large stainless steel pot. Stir over low heat to dissolve the sugar then bring to a rolling boil.
- Reduce to a simmer over low heat, adding the butter if using, and cook for 15 minutes stirring only occasionally to make sure the jam doesn’t stick.
- Spoon a small amount onto a cold plate and run a finger through it – it should leave a clean trail.
- Spoon the hot jam into (hot) sterilised jars, seal, cool and store in your pantry. Alternatively spoon the cooled jam into clean jars (I run them through the dishwasher) and store them in the fridge for up to a month.
Passion Fruit Jam With Pectin Powder
- Combine the sugar and pectin powder in a bowl. Put the passion fruit pulp, sugar / pectin, water and lemon juice in a large stainless steel pot. Stir over low heat to dissolve the sugar then increase heat and bring to the boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and continue to simmer the jam, occasionally stirring to make sure the fruit doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Add a small knob of butter to reduce any grayish bubbles (scum) forming.
- Cook for approximately 15 minutes, or until the bubbles die down and the jam is glossy. Spoon a small amount onto a cold plate and run a finger through it – it should leave a clean trail. Spoon into sterilised jars.
Patty says
Can I freeze the jam to keep it longer?
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Patty – sorry am not sure about that.
Greg says
Great
Rebecca Abu-Sanu says
I made the jam with the purple flesh for pectin and it is DIVINE!! This is my first try at jam making. I only had 2.5 fruits so I had to eye-ball the amounts of everything (but first did the math as best as possible). It yielded about 8oz of jam which I placed in a sterilized jar. I think it’s pretty fail-proof with such an easy recipe. Thank you so much for all the cooking options and for this wonderful recipe!! I am trying to re-create a pastry my husband had in Costa Rica that had this jam in the middle. They way he brags about it I had to try it for myself. I was going to use frozen passion fruit but he wasn’t convinced it would be the same. Luckily I spotted fresh passion fruit at the local market. Never seen it before!! Will compare against the frozen kind next time using added pectin. Thanks again!! PS – didn’t need the butter for such a small amount, and mine didn’t taste earthy using the flesh pectin.
Lisa M says
When making it with Preserving Sugar, the directions mention adding water, but the ingredients don’t have water. I saw that you edited the recipe when using Pectin Powder, but one using Preserving Sugar may also need updating.
Theresa says
I read many recipes for one item before I decide what to follow and this was the recipe I liked the best for passion fruit jam. I am a fairly experienced jam maker. I typically make jam using added pectin but I have made three different marmalades and loquat jam without pectin so I had a bit of an understanding of what I was doing here. My passion fruit, 12 of them, yielded me 400 g of pulp. I read the entire article and noticed that it said to take note of the weight of the pulp because I would use an equal weight of sugar. I also noticed, in many comments, that an earthy taste was observed that commentators related to the flesh scraped from the skin.
So I have made this recipe three times now, all with great success. I have used 12 passion fruit each time and used the weight of the pulp to determine the weight of the sugar even though both are more than what is noted in the body of the recipe. Because of the comments related to the earthiness of the purée, I have kept the purée at a
scant 1 cup. I have also increased the lemon to closer to 3 tablespoons than two, because I have more pulp and sugar than noted in the body of the recipe.
I have been unable to get this jam to 220°F as noted in the recipe. I have used three thermometers and the hottest I have been able to get it without burning it is 216°F. The recipe is good in telling the reader to cook the jam until the bubbles subside and the jam looks glossy but I would like to add that the jam should look sticky. It will begin to stick slightly to the bottom of the pan and be thicker looking. I have made this recipe three times now with the above changes and each time the jam has set up very well, possibly thicker than some of you might like because it is a very firm set at 216°. Overall, outstanding recipe. I did use the butter to help reduce the bubbles as noted in the recipe. Truly delicious with fresh passion fruit! Thank you very much. And I am also a passion fruit enthusiast. My very favorite flavor!
Yvonne says
I have a question on the passion fruit jam with pectin powder it says to add water and lemon juice but in the ingredients, it doesn’t call for water, how much water do I need?
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Yvonne I have updated the recipe card
Lisa M says
I used your first recipe here and boiled the shells, using that puree. I believe it gave a very “earthy” taste that seemed to overpower the passion fruit taste. It still tasted like passion fruit (but very earthy), and the jam turned out runny. Because many of my fruit were on the smaller side, I used way more than 12. I also filtered out the seeds. I ended up with 3/4 C of passion fruit pulp/juice. But I wasn’t sure how much pulp “12” were supposed to yield. I boiled/simmered it for about 20 minutes as it wasn’t getting much thicker. Perhaps I did something wrong there. I ended up with more of a passion fruit syrup, which is fine too. But just a bit disappointed. There were a lot of variables since I wasn’t sure how much pulp I really needed from my varying sizes of fruit.
Lucy Parissi says
The seeds contain pectin which helps set the jam. You can sieve the jam to remove them after it sets x
Maggie Johnson says
I just made the recipe using the inner pulp from the shells as pectin source ad in the recipe. I agree with Lisa that it made the jam taste “earthy” and lost the sharp passion fruit flavor found in fresh juice. However, I did taste the jam with a of fresh juice sprinkled on top and this brought out a sharper and fresher taste. I just made the recipe, so I will wait to see how it tastes once it cools down and is stored for a day. I followed the recipe pretty consistently and my product definitely thickened nicely. I left the seeds in. I notice that they became a little tougher to chew once cooked.
This jam would make a nice addition to a charcuterie board and might be good with “earthy” cheeses!!
Thanks for the recipe.
Ramana Shiu says
I used a blender to blend papaya with sour green shelled passion fruit without adding anything, Left the mixture in the fridge. It just set.
I did not add sugar, did not boil. It becomes a perfect dessert.
We grow a lot of both fruits organically and think of starting making jams commercially.
Your jams are good for a month in the fridge.
If I market this jam, how can I make sure that it remains on the shelves in perfect condition perhaps for a year. or more ?
Lucy Parissi says
Sugar acts as a preservative. I am not sure what self life a jam without sugar would have. It would be limited
Gayna Jaffer says
Thankyou for this recipe Lucy!
My first attempt at making jam and must say turned out pretty well!
The recipe was nice and easy to follow so that helped alot of course.
We have a very big vine over our water tank so endless abundance of fruit
but because they were a bit smaller just added some more to the brew.
Hubby is very happy!
Lucy Parissi says
So nice to hear! And envious of your vine