We didn’t manage to make any preserves this summer. Both the apricot and tomato harvest were, well, were not. However, on the first day of autumn, Simon got a load of Betty Anne plums from the farmers’ market, and we made jam. The resulting flavor, with ginger and cinnamon, brings stars of chilly air tang to my tongue. It’s also great on toast.
This particular batch yielded eight 12-ounce jars from just under eight pounds of plums, with very tart fruit. YMMV.
Ingredients
- 8 pounds plums, washed
- 2 inches ginger, peeled and sliced
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 2 1/4 pounds sugar
- 1 pound brown sugar
Method
- Slice plums into 3/4 to 1 inch pieces. Remove the pits if you can, but if they cling fiercely to the flesh, don’t worry about it: just toss them all into a large stock pot. Same goes with the skins: both they and the seeds will be removed when run through the mill later.
- Toss in the ginger slices and cinnamon stick. Over medium heat, bring the plums to an energetic simmer. Once the fruit has become pulpy (30 minutes or more, depending on the fruit and its ripeness), remove from the heat.
- Run the pulp through a food mill to remove any pits, large bits of skin, and the spice chunks. We used the mill screen with the largest holes. Pour pulp back into the stock pot.
- Pour in sugars, bring to a simmer, again, and reduce until desired thickness is achieved. For us it took about 30 to 45 minutes.
- Make sure you have clean jars and caps (i.e., rings and dome/lids) handy. Ladle the hot jam into the jars, quickly cap them off, then process appropriately. E.g., the jars simmered in the canner for 20 minutes.
- Store in a cool location like a larder or closet. Refrigerate after opening.
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