Mystery Plum Jam

Step 1: Pick the plums

Step 2: Weight the fruit

A recipe based on one from Linda Ziedrich's The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves. Her recipe is for Damson plums and does not include cardamon. In addition, because of the nature of Lisa's mystery, non-freestone plums, we have added a step of putting the pulp through a food mill in order to not simply make plum jelly. Her large and rather old tree produces fruit that is quite sweet with very sour skin and creates a jam, that even without this year's addition of cardamon, has always resulted in tasters asking "What spices did you use?"

Cook fruit and water

Pass through a food mill

4 pounds backyard plums (not freestone)

1/2  cups water

4 1/2  cups sugar

2 T cardamon in pod (for a stronger cardamon flavor, use whole seeds or ground)

1 pat of butter (optional, to prevent excessive foaming)

Put the whole plums and water in a large pan and simmer covered for almost an hour, until the pulp is very soft.

Remove the pan from the heat and run the juice and pulp through a food mill, using the coarsest grind.

Measure the volume of the pulp. We ended up with 6 cups.

Return the pulp to a large pan over medium heat and add 3/4 cup of sugar per cup of pulp. We added 4 1/2 cups. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. 

Add the cardamon in a metal tea strainer or cheesecloth spice bag. Add the optional butter.

Boil the jam until a drop mounds on a chilled dish.

Remove the cardamon. 

Ladle the jam into jars and process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath.

Return to pan with cardamon and boil

Almost ready to be canned

Ladle into jars

Process

Jam!