Candied Melon Jam
Dried cantaloupe cooked back into a thick sweet spread, one pot, no canning.
- calories
- 240
- weight
- 2.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 96
- protein
- 2 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 17 min
- water
- 200 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- Snack
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dried cantaloupe | 1 cup, chopped small | unsweetened if you can find it |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 3 tbsp | white or light brown |
| Citric acid or powdered lemon | 1/4 tsp | stands in for the lemon juice |
| Salt | a pinch | |
| Vanilla or cinnamon | 1/4 tsp | optional |
Method
- Put the chopped melon in the pot with 200 ml of water. Bring it to a boil, then back the flame off to a simmer.
- Simmer about ten minutes, until the pieces are soft enough to mash against the pot wall with a spoon.
- Stir in the sugar, salt, and citric acid. Simmer another five minutes, stirring often, until the syrup coats the spoon and the pot bottom shows for a second when you drag through it.
- Kill the heat and stir in the vanilla. It thickens more as it cools, so stop earlier than looks right.
- Eat warm on tortillas or crackers, or let it set and spoon it cold.
Melon jam is normally a canning project: whole fresh cantaloupe, hours on the stove, sterilized jars. None of that travels. Dried melon skips the entire problem. The fruit already lost its water at home, so you are rehydrating and sweetening rather than boiling a pound of liquid off, and fifteen minutes does what an afternoon used to.
The acid matters more than the sugar. Cantaloupe is low-acid and flat on its own, and a quarter teaspoon of citric acid pulls the flavor back into focus the way lemon juice does at home. Powdered lemon works and weighs nothing. Skip it and you get sweet mush.
Made at camp it keeps a day, maybe two in cold weather. This is not preserved jam, so eat it.
Packing
Melon, sugar, acid, salt, and spice go in one bag at home. In camp it is one pour and one pot.
Variations
- Add a spoonful of chia while it cools if you want it stiff enough to spread cold.
- Cut the sugar in half and it becomes a syrup for oatmeal instead of a jam.
- Dried mango or peach works the same way and holds a little more body.
https://savoriurbane.com/dulceata-de-pepene-galben-sau-cantalup-reteta-de-pepene-confiat