COOKING TIME: APPROX 35 MINS
MAKES: 1.5KG
INGREDIENTS
2kg plums, washed, halved, stones removed and then roughly
sliced (keep stones set aside)
1kg sugar
2 tbs lemon juice
PREPARATION
You’ll need:
** a non-reactive bowl
** a non-reactive pot (or a copper preserving pan if you have one)
** a nut cracker or meat mallet to smash about 10 stones,
** a good sized clean cloth/kitchen towel to put the stones in to
smash (if using a meat mallet),
** a muslin cloth to tie up stone kernels and sit in jam pot whilst
it’s cooking
** sterilized jars to store your jam (see tips for sterilizing here) and
** a candy/cooking thermometer to check if jam is set (see tips
below if you don’t have one)
METHOD
1. Using a nutcracker, crack the plum stones to extract the kernel,
or loosely wrap about 10 stones in a clean cloth and then
literally smash them with the meat mallet.
2. Extract the kernels and tie them securely in a piece of muslin.
3. Place the roughly sliced plums and sugar into a non-reactive
bowl and stir well.
4. Bury your 10 kernels in the muslin bag amongst the fruit,
cover and leave overnight at room temperature.
5. On the following day, pop the contents that have soaked
overnight into a pot and bring to the boil over moderate heat,
stirring a little to prevent any sticking.
6. A great deal of froth will rise as the mixture comes to the boil.
Skim off the froth – you don’t want this in the jam.
7. Then add the lemon juice and simmer for about 25 minutes
until at the setting stage.
8. Take out your thermometer and check that the mixture is up
to 105°C or see tips below.
9. Remove the jam from the heat and allow it to settle for about
5 minutes.
10. Take out the muslin bag and squeeze out whatever you can
back into the mixture.
11. Ladle the jam into hot, sterilized jars and seal.
** Your plum jam will keep for up to 6 months in well sterilized
jars, stored in a cool, dry place.
** It’s important to label and date the jars so have some labels
and a pen handy in the kitchen to mark the date made and
jam type.
VARIATIONS AND TIPS
To test the setting stage of your jam without a thermometer, try
one of these two methods:
Method 1 – Plate Test
** Chill 2 or 3 small plates in your freezer.
** Remove jam from heat while doing test.
** Place 1 tsp of hot jam on the plate and place it back in the
freezer for 1 minute.
** Remove it and the surface of the jam should wrinkle when the
edge is pushed with your finger. If it doesn’t, continue cooking
your jam and repeat the test every few minutes.
Method 2 – Spoon or Sheet Test
** Dip a cool metal spoon into the boiling jelly mixture and lift the
spoon out of the steam so the syrup runs off the side. When
the mixture first starts to boil, the drops will be light and syrupy.
As the syrup continues to boil, the drops will become heavier
and will drop off the spoon two at a time. When the two drops
form together and “sheet” off the spoon, the jellying point has
been reached.
** Whilst delicious on buttered fresh bread, this plum jam can
also be used for cooking eg: add a few tablespoons to the
Neverfail Fruit Crumble, or add a few tbs to a chicken and
vege stirfry and voila! you have created chicken in plum sauce
stirfry! For a spicier plum sauce to use in cooking, see the
Spicy Plum Sauce recipe
NOTE
Always look for organic ingredients to be sure you are avoiding
additives. Check the label carefully to ensure there are no nasties
in your ingredients.
