A Prickly Jam

I moved to Arizona in 1979. About 20 years ago, my friend Ann (an Arizona native) gave me her recipe for Prickly Pear Jam. I make it about every 3 or 4 years now. Thought I would share the process with you, if you are not familiar with it.

This is the recipe she gave me. The fruit of the prickly pear is also called a tuna.

In my neighborhood there is one very prolific prickly pear plant.

This is it. It is right on the side of the road, and hard to miss. The fruit is ripe in the fall, and when I walk by, my mouth pretty much waters, thinking of the juice those fruit would produce!

So, I walked up to the door of the house where the plant was, and I asked a nice neighbor if anyone else had asked for the fruit this year. She said no, and that I was welcome to it. YAY! (if you happen to have one of these plants, it is a good idea to get rid of those fruit in some manner, because later on they make a big red spotchy mess, if they are not picked. So, it was a win/win. )

Now, to gather the fruit. I took a plastic bin, and some long tongs and walked the few doors down.

The fruit comes right off when it is ripe. Thankfully. (See the rocks on the right side of this photo? That is evidence that a pack rat has moved into this large plant, and is living happily every after. They like to live in prickly pear plants.)

The truth is I am not a fan of rodents. NOT AT ALL. But, these little guys are kinda cute, and I so admire their industriousness. But, I digress......

This is my bin of fruit. I have about 50.

The first step is to create juice. There is more than one way to do this. You can boil the fruit, or smash the fruit through a sieve.

But first, and VERY important, burn the spines off!

In this case, I decided to smash the fruit to obtain the juice.

I smashed it through a strainer. I will strain it at least one more time. After smashing, straining and straining again, you have juice.

Three quarts of Prickly Pear Juice.

When it is time to make jelly, you use juice much as you would to make any other jelly.

The juice is combined with water and sugar and boiled. Pectin and lemon juice has to be added. I always boil it a lot longer than is recommended. Maybe it is because I live at a high altitude, I don't know. But, if I don't, I end up with jelly not quite set up. When that happens, I wait about 10 days, and if it is still not set, I dump it all out into a pan, and boil it AGAIN. GRRR....