grow, forage, cook: plum jam

Plum jam is possibly my favourite. Although I don't think I've ever met a jam I don't like.

A little while ago, my lovely neighbour called one afternoon with three kilos of plums from his garden. To say I was delighted is an understatement. I knew I wanted to have a go at making plum jam. 'Don't let it go too long or you'll have toffee.' With Eric's advice ringing in my ears, I started jamming.

After taking a kilo of plums, halving them and removing the stones, I put them in my biggest saucepan and added 225ml of water. I simmered them gently over a medium heat for about 20 minutes until the fruit had softened.

While the plums simmered I warmed 700gms of granulated sugar in the oven. My granny warmed sugar for jam so that it dissolved more easily and didn't become grainy. I put it in the oven in a dish along with the jars which were sterilising on a low heat.

To the softened plums, I added the warm sugar and simmered for another 15 minutes. When the sugar dissolved completely I boiled the jam quickly for 10 minutes. I checked for 'set' using the cold plate method. When the jam reached setting point I took it off the heat, letting it cool slightly before pouring into sterilised jars. It's really lovely with freshly baked scones.

I attempted spiced plum jam with the remaining plums adding a teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and mixed spice. It tastes delicious but I either stirred it too much or didn't boil it for long enough so it never really set. I'm calling it confiture, a lovely soft set French jam and declaring it a success.

Have you been jamming this year? What's your favourite flavour?

Joining in with the lovely ladies at Circle of Pine Trees and Wolves in London for their 'grow, forage, cook' series.