Plum Jam

Plum jam is one of the easiest jams to make. The only issue is to make it perfect you need to remove all the stones. Whether that be before you cook it or once the stones rise to the top during cooking, it really doesn’t matter. Even if you just leave them in there when you bottle it, they become like sweet little treats to suck on when you find them on your toast!

1kg plums

1kg sugar

250mls water

(Increase the whole ingredients for more plums)

Wash, halve and stone the plums.

Cook the plums and the water in a preserving pan on moderate heat for about half an hour until the skins are soft. Remove the stones as they rise to the top at this point if you haven’t before cooking or do not want to include then in the jam.

Stir in the warmed sugar and then boil briskly.

When the jam reaches setting point, pot up and seal.

Setting point is when a little jam taken from the mix is dropped onto a cool saucer and then when you run a finger through it the jam stays separated for a bit and/or the surface wrinkles slightly. Just make sure you don’t overcook or burn the jam while trying to reach this stage. Jams will continue to cook slightly in the jars and will then set so don’t worry too much about it being really thick when you test it.

I wash my jars and place them in a cool oven (about 110°C) while the jam is cooking. I put the sugar in at the same time so it is warmed before adding to the jam. This is so the jam doesn’t go too much off the boil when you add it to the fruit. I bring all the lids to the boil in a pot so they are sterilised.