A Plethora of Plums

A Plethora of Plums  

There is so much fruit this summer that I find I am spending much of my time on the allotment harvesting then having to spend several more hours each day dealing with it.

My tomatoes are just getting beyond the stage of picking what I can use each day for breakfast and lunch. Apples are ripening and starting to drop. My pear tree, producing for the first time (I’ve had it for three years), has lost a branch due to the weight of fruit, though the pears are not quite ripe yet so, I will have to prop up the other two branches.

My Victoria Plum tree (which I have also had for three years) is groaning under the weight of fruit. They, at least, have the manners to ripen in dribs-and-drabs so that I have a chance to deal with them. They are not necessarily ripe when they start to soften but should come away from the branch without tugging too hard. I did give a punnet of them to a friend who said that, regrettably, they were still a bit sour so, I guess I tugged too hard. Don’t let them stay on the tree too long or they will be attacked by wasps, birds, etc, or they will fall and be too bruised to use.

So far I have picked about 6 lb (3 kg) and it doesn’t seem to have made much of a dent in the crop.

What can we do with them?

With my first picking I have made jam. Try these:

Plum Jam

2.7 kg  (6lb) plums,       2.7 kg  (6lb) sugar,      900 ml (1.5 pints) water

·         Wash the plums then cut in half and remove the stones.

·         Put the plums and water into a preserving pan and cook over a low heat until the fruit is really soft and the liquid reduced – about 30 minutes.

·         Add the sugar and stir over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a rolling boil and boil until setting point has been reached.

·         Pot up in hot sterilised jars. Cover and label.

Try this recipe from  -The Best-kept Secrets  of the Women’s Institute, Jams, Pickles and Chutneys by Midge Thomas –

Plum & Mulled Wine Jam

1.8 kg (4lb) red plums, halved and stoned

½ bottle red wine (whatever is cheap or on offer)

mulled wine spices, eg. cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves or your own choice

piece of orange zest without the pith

1.8 kg (4lb) sugar

·         Put the prepared plums and wine into a preserving pan.

·         Place the spices and zest in a spice ball or muslin bag and add to the pan. Cook gently for 15 – 20 minutes or until the skins are soft.

·         Remove the spice ball or bag and add the sugar, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly for about 10 minutes or until setting point is reached. Remove any scum.

·         Pot into sterilised jars, cover and label.

( while this recipe specifies red plums, it should work just as well with any variety)

Damson Jam

Like greengages, damsons are a member of the plum family and damsons are mostly ready to harvest now. The jam is made in a similar way though it would be much too time consuming to remove the stones in the same way as for plum jam.

1.35kg  (3lb) damsons,          1.35kg (3lb) sugar,          500ml (1 pt) water

·         Wash the damsons and remove any stalks or leaves.

·         Put them, with the water, into a preserving pan and simmer gently until the fruit is really soft and the stones start to release from the fruit – about 30 minutes. Squash the fruit against the side of the pan to help push the stones out. Remove any stones which rise to the surface.

·         Add the sugar and stir over a gentle heat until the sugar has dissolved.

·         Bring to the boil then boil rapidly until setting point is reached. During the boiling, the stones will rise to the surface of the jam and you should be able to remove most of them. (If you wish to remove all of them pour the jam into a colander or coarse sieve and push it through. This will also remove the skins and give you a smoother jam. However, I prefer my jam with the ‘bits’ in and am happy to remove the odd stone when I am eating the jam. )

·         Pot up in hot sterilised pots, seal and label.

Freezing Plums

Plums can be frozen with or without sugar syrup.

·         To dry freeze them – wash, dry, cut in half and remove the stones then lay the fruit in a single layer, on a flat tray, on absorbent paper.  Place the tray in the freezer. On fast-freeze the fruit should be frozen overnight.

·         Pack into freezer containers or bags.

However, packed in a sugar syrup the fruit will keep longer

·         Wash, halve and stone the fruit

·         Pack into lidded freezer containers

·         Prepare a sugar syrup  - Dissolve 500g (1lb) sugar in 500 ml (1 pt) water over a low heat. Allow the syrup to cool, then chill before adding to the fruit. You will need approx. ¼ litre (½ pt) for each 500g ( lb)  of fruit.

·         Add the chilled syrup to the fruit but allow a little expansion room. Freeze.

Alternatively:

·         Poach the fruit gently in the syrup until soft. Pack with its syrup into freezer containers an cool thoroughly before freezing.

Plum Chutney

Plums lend themselves very readily to chutney and there are many, many recipes featuring them as a main ingredient.

I like my chutneys to be fruity and quite hot so this is my favourite recipe (that said, as with all of my chutney recipes, each time I make this it tastes slightly different from the previous batch)

1kg (2lb)plums – washed, halved and stoned

2 large cooking apples – peeled, cored and cut into chunks

3 large onions – peeled and chopped

3 large cloves of garlic

Two or three red chillies – thinly sliced (if fresh chillies are not ripe yet, dried ones will do – I use Joe’s Long as the flavour and heat is usually fairly reliable). Leave the seeds in if you like your chutney hot and add more if you wish.

350gm  (12oz) sugar
570ml (1pint) malt vinegar

25gm (1oz) salt

Spices – 2 tsp yellow mustard seeds (can be crushed), 3 tsp ground allspice, 1 tsp ground black pepper,

                a small cube of fresh ginger finely chopped( 1 tsp of ground ginger will do).

·         Place all the prepared ingredients in a preserving pan. Stir over a low heat until all of the sugar has dissolved.

·         Bring to the boil and simmer until the ingredients are soft  and the chutney is thick and pulpy.

·         Pot up into hot sterilised jars, cover and label.

·         Chutneys are best left for a few weeks before eating to allow the different flavours to blend well.

And, a couple of puddings using plums:

Cooking with Plums

Plum sponge pudding

500g  (1lb) ripe plums – washed, halved and stoned,   50gm  (2oz) sugar,   1 dsp water

For the sponge

75g ( 3oz) butter or margarine,    75g (3oz) castor sugar,    110g (4oz) SR flour

2 large eggs,      ¼ tsp baking powder.

·         Stew the plums with the sugar and water until lightly cooked. Cool.

·         Cream the butter and sugar and gradually beat in the lightly whisked eggs.

·         Sieve the baking powder and salt. Fold it into the creamed mixture.

·         Put the partially cooked plums in the bottom of a pie dish and cover with the cake mixture.

·         Bake in a moderate oven(180°C, no5 gas) for approx. 40 mins. Reduce the temperature slightly to prevent the cake mixture from burning, if necessary.

·         Serve with crème fraîche, cream or ice-cream.

Plum Pie

500g (1lb) ripe plums – washed, halved and stoned,      100g (4oz) sugar

Short crust pastry

175g (6oz) plain flour,  80g (3oz) margarine or butter,   pinch salt,    approx. 6 tsp cold water

·         Sieve the flour and salt.

·         Rub in the margarine until like fine breadcrumbs.

·         Add the water to ensure the mixture forms a firm dough – don’t make it too wet.

To make up the pie

·         Prepare the fruit and layer with the sugar in a pie dish. The dish should be well filled as it will reduce during cooking.

·         Roll out the pastry. Use a few slices from the side to line the edge of the pie dish the top the pie with the pastry. Seal the edges.

·         Bake in a hot oven (200°C, no 6 gas) until the pastry is golden/light brown, then reduce the temperature to ensure the fruit is cooked – approx 40 minutes in total.

·         Sprinkle the top with caster sugar and serve with custard or whipped cream.

Enjoy!