Sour Plum Jam
I really love jam making time, and watching the pantry shelves fill up with jewel-like jars of sweetness. My Sour Plum Jam is one of my favorites because it's not overly sweet, as most jams are, and its uses are really versatile.
Sour Plum Jam
8 cups Italian plums, seeded and cut into fourths
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
Add ingredients into a large stockpot. Cook at medium high heat until boiling.
Once mixture begins to boil, stir often to ensure ingredients don't burn. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring often.
After 20 minutes, the mixture will have broken down quite a bit. To help it along, stir and mash with a potato masher:
Cook until the mixture coats a mixing spoon, and reaches a consistency to your liking:
(It should take a couple of seconds for the jam to drip off the spoon).
Ladle mixture into clean, hot pint-sized canning jars, leaving a 1/4” headspace. Top with canning lids and rings and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Makes 2 1/2 pints. (Can 2 pints and refrigerate the remaining 1/2 for immediate use or double the batch to make 5 pints).
Tips:
Fruit that is slightly under-ripe contains more pectin than ripe fruit. I recommend using about 1 cup of slightly under-ripe plums.
Don't use overly ripe fruit. It will make your jam too runny.
The pectin is concentrated in the skins, so it's a must that the skins are left on for this jam.
If you are unable to find any slightly under-ripe plums, grate in 1/2 cup of sour apple skins. They'll cook down nicely and will work as a great natural thickener.
Uses:
Serve with scones
Use as a dip for cinnamon donut holes, along with sweetened mascarpone cheese
Use as a filling for your favorite layer cake
Serve with savory pork chops
Fill mini shortbread tarts, available at the market, for an impromptu treat
Make jelly donuts!
