Two wild plum jam recipes
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Jam Jelly and Preserves | 122 comments
Photo: Wild plums make delicious jam
Here are two of our wild plum jam recipes. Wild plums taste quite tart, similar to damsons. They are excellent for jam and jelly and both are not too sweet.
The following recipes describe two methods for making wild plum jam.
If your plums are barely ripe (still pretty firm) go for the first one, if they are soft and ripe go for the second. The barely ripe recipe will have a sharper taste.
Barely ripe wild plum jam recipe:
Ingredients:
900g/2lb of barely ripe wild plums
900g/2lb of preserving sugar
Method:
- Wash the plums and discard any damaged fruit.
- Slit the plums with a knife. This will allow the stones to float to the surface during cooking so that they can be easily removed.
- Place plums in a non metallic bowl, sprinkle over sugar and mix to coat the plums.
- Cover with a clean tea cloth and leave overnight.
- The following day put plums and sugar into a large heavy bottomed saucepan (or preserving pan) and heat very gently until the sugar has dissolved.
- Bring the jam to the boil and continue to boil very rapidly for about 8-10 minutes until the jam reaches setting point. At this stage carefully remove the stones as they float up to the surface, with a slotted spoon. (What is setting point? See tricks and tips below).
- When the jam has set, carefully pour into warm, sterilised jars, using a ladle or small jug (How to sterilise jars? See tricks and tips below)
- Cover the jars with tight fitting screw-top lids, or waxed disks and cellophane pot covers (waxed disks, wax facing upwards and plastic covers secured with plastic bands).
- when cold and store in a cool, dark place, away from damp.
Ripe wild plum jam recipe:
Ingredients:
900g/2lb of ripe wild plums
900g/2lb of white granulated sugar – if you prefer a more tart jam cut the sugar by a quarter – I prefer less sugar myself
½ pint/275ml of water
Method:
- Wash the plums and discard any damaged fruit.
- Put the plums and water into a large heavy bottomed saucepan (or preserving pan) and simmer gently until the skins split and they are soft.
- Meanwhile, warm the sugar in a low oven for ten minutes and add to the fruit.
- Stir gently over a low heat until you are sure that all the sugar crystals have dissolved.
- Turn up the heat to its highest setting and, stirring frequently, let the fruit boil rapidly for 8-10 minutes (this is called a rolling boil).
- Remove the stones with a slotted spoon during the boiling process.
- Test for set (What is set/ setting point? See tricks and tips below).
- If the jam has not set, continue to boil rapidly and test at five minute intervals.
- When the jam has set carefully pour into warm, sterilised jars, using a ladle or small jug. (How to sterilise jars? See tricks and tips below)
- Cover the jars with tight fitting screw-top lids, or waxed disks and cellophane pot covers (waxed disks, wax facing upwards and plastic covers secured with plastic bands).
- Label when cold and store in a cool, dark place, away from damp.
Tips and tricks:
Jam “set” or “setting point”:
Getting the right set can be tricky. I have tried using a jam thermometer but find it easier to use the following method. Before you start to make the jam, put a couple of plates in the fridge so that the warm jam can be drizzled onto a cold plate (when we make jam we often forget to return the plate to the fridge between tests, using two plates means that you have a spare cold plate). Return the plate to the fridge to cool for approx two minutes. It has set when you run your finger through it and leave a crinkly track mark. If after two minutes the cooled jam is too liquid, continue to boil the jam, testing it every few minutes until you have the right set. The jam is far more delicious if it is slightly runny.
Sterilising the jars:
We collect jars all year round for our jelly, chutney and jam making sessions. I try to soak off labels and store the clean jars and metal plastic coated screw-top lids in an accessible place. The sterilising method that we used is simple. Just before making the jam, I quickly wash and rinse the jars and place them upside down in a cold oven. Set the temperature to 160c/140c for fan assisted. When the oven has reached the right temperature I turn off the heat. The jars will stay warm for quite a while. I only use plastic lined lids for preserves as the all-metal lids can go rusty. I boil these for five minutes in water to sterilise them. If I use Le Parfait jars, I do the same with the rubber rings.
Damson Jam: The recipes above work well with damsons.
Leave a reply
Great recipe, thanks so much! It was my first attempt at jam and I was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing. I dislike very sweet jam so I made it quite tart plus the plums were very ripe so I only put in 2/3rds of the sugar. Luckily it’s set beautifully and it’s a really lovely fresh taste with the plum flavour coming through nicely. I could really get into doing more of this! The sugar and plums were organic so I feel like not only am I saving money but I’m improving my diet without changing it 😀
Hi, thank you for the great recipe – I have made two batches of plum jam following the ‘ripe’ recipe, the first with Victoria plums and the second with greengages – both batches set perfectly but the Victoria plum jam has been a favourite with the family :-). I’ll be trying your blackberry and apple jam next – it is necessary to seive?
To Nicki (above), I read that that larger the quantity, the harder it is to get a good set as the jam may not boil rapidly enough 🙁
Also can I freeze it as I don’t think I got the lids on quick enough to keep it sterile:-( nikki
Hi, thanks so much for your fantastic plum jam recipe. Things are going ok but not great. I over cooked my first batch and it went rock solid so I ditched it:-(. The second batch was perfect 🙂 But today I made batch 3. I doubled the Quantities and made the Ripe plum jam recipe with 1800g of plums, 1350g of sugar (cutting amount by 1/4 as advised) and 1pt of water. I must admit that I made things up a bit with the sugar and used about 1150g of caster sugar, and 200g of preserving sugar. My problem is that it didn’t set! Is this because of the different types if sugars or doubling amounts:-(. Very disappointing. I tried adding the juice of half a lemon to no avail. I now have about 8 jars of runny jam. Can I fix it? I’d really appreciate ur help as I’m loathed to waste it. Many thanks, Nikki
I too am looking forward to next years bounty. In the summer months I live on a tiny island off the east coast of Sweden. We are living quite primitively. We have a hand pump well for water. I try not to use too much water. So I put the plums into a plastic bag with the sugar. No bowl to wash! I used a lot less sugar as my OH is a diabetic. While you are cooking and stirring think of it as a free facial! Steam machines for facials are expensive.Because I have back problems, I took the pot off the stove and put it on a chair to search for the seeds. I used a tong to extract them. And when people come aroung to see what you are doing you can tell them to put a spoonful of the seeds in their mouth for a taste.(don’t swallow,please) When the plum mixture reaches the right jell stage it gets glossy.I have many plums frozen whole in the freezer to prepare during the winter.
Since we live rather far north I have the last batch getting ripe indoors. I will probably freeze these for the winter also.
I have shared this recipe with a neighbor who did not know what the plums were.
Thank you for the fantastic recipe.
Just to let you know that my other half loved the jam, used the less sugar recipe as the plums were really ripe and he said it was just right. Really pleased with my first attempt so will definitely be using this recipe next year.
I have just made my first batch of cherry plum jam following the ripe plum recipe to the letter. I used 1lb jam jars and got 2 and a half pounds of jam, is this about right ? I have never made jam before and thought I would give it a go as our orchard was overflowing with fruit this year and I was giving it away to everyone and thought why not give it a go myself. Will definitely look for a cherry destoner next time as I didn’t enjoy trying to get the stones out of the mixture ! Now waiting for the other half to get home from work to let me know his verdict and whether it was a success ! Will let you know what he thinks. Really pleased I found this site and thanks for the recipe. Been reading all the comments and I have certainly picked up on some ideas that everyone has been sharing. Look forward to reading more about how everyone is getting on with their jam making.
For those who do not like the taste of the skin of the plum, use an electric stick grinder that you use in making sauces. I am sorry but I do not know the correct name in English. Your result will be less big skin pieces. Don’t use it too long or it will be too liquid-
yey, just tried this recipe, took less than an hour and is sooo good I can’t tell you…thanks all for the tips and the recipe (I used the second one which slightly less sugar)…just to run before I can walk, I did 1.5 times this recipe, split between 2 pans and added a piece of grated root ginger (about an inch) to one lot, which although very subtle just adds a nice warmth…my other tip is if you are lucky enough to holiday in France, check out any supermarket, even the tiny ones, for absolute bargains on jars…I bought 6 really pretty 340ml ones with screw lids for about £4, Kilner type of all shapes and sizes much cheaper than anything I’ve seen at home…I’m off to make some bread to go with my lovely warm jam xxx
I didn’t know there was such a thing as cherry plums till I read your web page. I haven’t made jam for ages but found your recipe easy to follow and the tips about setting and sterilizing the jars were brilliant. I used a cherry stoner before cooking the plums which worked a treat. I plan to go and pick more now I know what to do with them, I’ve just got to find some more jars to put it in. We cant wait to start eating the jam but how long will the jam keep with a screw top lid in the dark? Thanks again 🙂
Hi Karen
The jam should last at least a year.