Victoria Plum Vanilla Jam

Beautiful Victorias!

Victoria Plum Vanilla Jam

This makes a beautiful golden jam that is hard to resist.

10 cups of Victoria plums, washed, pitted, and chopped

2 cups of vanilla sugar

1 cup of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 lemon, juiced

1 Tablespoon of butter (if desired)

Add all ingredients to heavy bottomed pot and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, removing any foam. Cook 15 minutes, remove from heat, allow to cool. Reheat and cook another 15 minutes. Repeat until you reach desired thickness. If you want it smoother, hit it with a stick blender. Ladle into hot jars with 1/2 headspace, and process 10 minutes. Makes 5 pints

In the works!

Plumageddon!

Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.
-Mae West 

 Plumageddon has come! I have a medium sized italian plum tree that was FULL of fruit.  When all was said and done, I harvested 62 lbs of plums off of it.  Unfortunately, these are not freestone, and I don't have a pitter (I will be getting one before next season), so dear readers, I processed them all by hand.  My hands and fingernails were stained for days, but it was worth it. They turn into delicious things.

About a third of said plums

Processing by hand sucks

The first thing I made was Plum BBQ Sauce. It was a perfect combination of flavors, hitting your taste buds in waves. Beginning with sweetness, then moving right on into just the right amount of tartness. As soon as the tartness starts to fade, you feel the heat rise, and ride out the spice until you take another bite and start again. After using quite a bit of it, I canned the remainder, 4 pints.

Next began the string of jams and a butter. We had been hitting up our local blueberry U-Pick pretty hard, and had quite a stock of those suckers, so, you will see them in a lot of these recipes. Plus, its just an all around awesome flavor combination, and makes a beautiful jam.

Can you smell it?

This came to pass in Plum Blueberry Jam, Plum Blueberry Butter, and Plum Blueberry Vanilla Jam. To be clear, these plums can easily stand alone, like in this Plum Ginger Vanilla Jam.  Or, they can be paired with other fruit like this Plum Apple Ginger Jam. Sometimes you get volunteer plums from your neighbors tree that overhang your yard, and get to try Victoria Plum Vanilla Jam.

A few jars 

After all of that, I still have about three 1 gallon ziplocks full of processed plums in my freezer.  Next round, baked goods, and possibly an attempt at plum wine.

Food totals: 213.5 lbs since last post

10 lbs cherries

5 lbs beans

1 lb 2 oz strawberries

9.5 lbs  carrots

17 lbs onions

1.5 lbs rainbow chard

5 lbs lemon cucumber

62 lbs plums

.5 lbs Blackberries

12 lbs Victoria plums

145 lbs apples

.25 lbs Corni De Toro peppers

.5 lbs Poblano peppers

4 lbs tomatillos

2 lbs ground cherries

 

224.75 lbs to goal

Plum Apple Ginger Jam

Plum Apple Ginger Jam

6 cups of plums, washed, pitted, and chopped

4 cups of apples, peeled, cored, chopped

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and diced

1 cup sugar

2 cup of brown sugar

1 lemon, juiced

1 Tablespoon of butter (if desired)

Add all ingredients to heavy bottomed pot and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, removing any foam. Cook 15 minutes, remove from heat, allow to cool. Reheat and cook another 15 minutes. Repeat until you reach desired thickness. If you want it smoother, hit it with a stick blender. Ladle into hot jars with 1/2 headspace, and process 10 minutes. Makes 5 pints

Plum Ginger Vanilla Jam

Tarty goodness!

Plum Ginger Vanilla Jam

This is a tart jam, please ignore if the tang is not your friend.

10 cups of plums, washed, pitted, and chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and diced
2 cups of vanilla sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 lemon, juiced
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 Tablespoon of butter (if desired)

Add all ingredients to heavy bottomed pot and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, removing any foam. Cook 15 minutes, remove from heat, allow to cool. Reheat and cook another 15 minutes. Repeat until you reach desired thickness. If you want it smoother, hit it with a stick blender. Ladle into hot jars with 1/2 headspace, and process 10 minutes. Makes 5 pints

Plum Blueberry Vanilla Jam

Plums and Blueberries, an awesome combo!

Plum Blueberry Vanilla Jam



This is a heavenly jam, and, possibly my favorite. It is made extra fabulous by the addition of Vanilla sugar.  Make this sugar by adding a whole or already scraped vanilla bean pod to sugar, I use quart jars. Let sit for several months for best vanilla flavor. Refill when empty (use same pod) and start again.

6 cups Plums, washed, pitted, chopped
4 cups Blueberries, cleaned
2 cups Vanilla sugar
1 cup Brown sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tablespoon of Butter (if desired)

Add all ingredients to heavy bottomed pot and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, removing any foam. Cook 15 minutes, remove from heat, allow to cool. Reheat and cook another 15 minutes. Repeat until you reach desired thickness. If you want it smoother, hit it with a stick blender. Ladle into hot jars with 1/2 headspace, and process 10 minutes. Makes 5 pints

Plum Blueberry Butter

Crock Pot Fruit Butter

Adapted from a recipe on Simple Bites


2 cups blueberries, cleaned and checked over for stems
4 cups plums, washed, pitted, chopped
2 1/2 cups sugar
zest and juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

You can puree the fruit before hand in a blender or food processor, or do it later with a stick blender (this is what I did).

Put all the ingredients in the crock pot and cook on high. Leave the lid propped open to let steam escape and butter to thicken.  Cook 4-5 hrs on low, 6-8 on high. Stir occasionally. Once butter is to desired thickness, ladle into hot jars with 1/2 headspace and process 10 min. Makes 4 pints.

You may want to reduce sugar if your plums aren't as tart as mine.

Plum Blueberry Jam

Plums and Blueberries, who can resist?

Plum Blueberry Jam

6 cups fresh Italian plums, washed, pitted, and chopped
4 cups fresh blueberries, washed and checked for stems
4 cups of sugar
Juice of 2 limes
1 Tablespoon of butter if desired (to lessen foam)

Add plums, blueberries, sugar, and lime juice to stock pot.  On low heat, bring to a simmer. Add in butter if using. Simmer for 15 minutes, skimming off any foam, remove from heat and allow to cool.

Reheat and simmer 15 minutes. Repeat this step until jam thickens. You will get a good feel for its set when it cools. Pack hot jam in clean hot jars, with 1/2 in. headspace, and process for 10 minutes. Makes ~5 pints.

Plum BBQ Sauce

Plum BBQ

Plum BBQ Sauce

6 cups plums, washed, pitted, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons mustard
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
1 teaspoon coriander
1 large onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper


Add all ingredients to a heavy bottomed stock pot. Stir to combine. Cover and simmer about an hour, stirring occasionally.

Notes:

If sauce is too thin, uncover and simmer until desired thickness is reached.  This will make a chunky sauce. If you want it smooth, blend it in your blender, use a stick blender, or use your food processor.  If your plums are not very tart, you may want to decrease the sugar. This recipe is based on tart italian plums. Omit cayenne pepper if you want less spice. Recipe made 5 pint jars for canning.

Smooth and saucy!