Vanilla Plum Jam
As fall approaches, my attention is shifting to our fruit trees. A few years back we planted a peach and two apple trees along the perimeter of our packed yard; they are now bursting with fruit, as is our dwarf plum. While we eat the peaches and apples straight off the trees, each fall we make a habit of picking the tart little plums and making our own homemade jam from them.
During this last weekend, the boys commenced with our plum harvest. First, they went out to the yard and shook the fruit down from the tree. Then they collected the plums in a large (unbreakable) metal bowl. Next, we gathered in the kitchen and made this tangy fruit spread.
4 cups plums, pitted and halved
½ cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
1 tablespoon water
10 drops stevia
1 vanilla bean
- In a large covered saucepan, bring plums, agave and vanilla bean to a boil
- Lower heat, uncover pot and simmer 15 minutes, until plums are dissolved (though skins will remain)
- Cook 10 more minutes to reduce mixture, then stir in stevia
- Remove vanilla bean, place plum mixture in vita-mix and puree on highest setting
- Transfer mixture back to pot and reheat on stove
- In a small bowl, combine arrowroot powder and 1 tablespoon water to make a slurry
- Bring plum mixture to a boil, then add arrowroot slurry, stirring continuously, until incorporated
- Remove from heat, cool and transfer to mason jars
- Store in refrigerator for up to one week
Feel free to play with the amount of agave and stevia called for in this recipe. I used a lot of each sweetener because our plums are small and quite sour. If you don't have stevia, just use agave. If you don't have either, experiment with your own choice of sweetener.
I use arrowroot in this recipe (and many others) as a thickener, I'm not quite sure what would make a good substitute if you don't have that on hand. One solution might be to reduce the jam down to your desired thickness, cooking out most of the liquid. If you do find that something else works in place of arrowroot, please leave a comment and let us know. In terms of using another fruit in place of plums, I imagine that might work --again, if you experiment with this, please share your results.
This thick gluten free, naturally sweetened, no sugar plum jam is delicious on pancakes, toast or warmed up over a big bowl of vanilla ice cream.
Tomorrow evening, September 17th at 5pm, I will be speaking at Pharmaca on Pearl Street in Boulder with Margaret Romero CNP, of Helios Health Center. She will be discussing alternative treatment methods for recalcitrant celiac disease and I will talk about the social aspects of dealing with this diagnosis.
Posted on September 16, 2008 in condiments by Elana
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12 comments
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What a delicious recipe! I love fresh produce from your very own yard. You can't beat it!
looks yummy. i just wonder what you did with the plum skins. my jam always has those and it's frustrating.
We used tapioca flour as a substitute thickener in your peach crisp recipe and it turned out wonderful. I bet tapioca flour could be used in the same manner for your vanilla plum jam recipe.
Thank you! I love this website just diagnosed a few weeks ago, I am having fun cooking healthy and feeling GREAT! I have been craving jam but dont want the surgar so I am so greatful, staying away from anyting processed just eating whole foods, so I really like your site. What a joy you are.
fruit pectin is an all natural jam thickener that comes from apples I believe. I know for sure that it comes from fruit and is not an artificial product. It even comes in a handy gel packet now, that you just squeeze into your jam, instead of measuring out the pectin powder.
I have used kudzu instead of arrowroot for your chocolate pudding and it was great. Thanks for this website and all the great recipes.
Elana, i've made jams before...in an other country, an other life it seems...and i've never used a thickener. Plums do have pectin though under-ripe plums have more. The best source of pectin is lemon juice so for insurance (not the AIG type) you could try adding the juice of one lemon if you'd like to try it without the arrowroot. At any rate it sounds decadent....I adore plums and it takes me back to stirring a potful of blissfully sticky plum jam with my mum so many years ago...i'll try this with my kids.
Mariella
Kristen -Thanks, I do too.
pie -Please see the recipe above, which notes that I puree the skins into the jam.
Melissa -That is such a great idea, thanks for sharing.
Rhonda -Thanks so much for your sweet and joyful comment!
Freedom -Great idea, thanks for sharing.
Hannah -Yes, I use kudzu and arrowroot interchangeably, I think they are different forms of the same thing.
Mariella - I love the idea of using lemon juice; so natural!
As soon as I get some plums in my organic fruit box I'll give this a whirl, sounds wonderful.
Kitchen Goddess - It was delicious, let me know how it turns out for you when you make it :-)
I used honey (1/4 cup for 2 cups of plums) and no additional sweetener. But, my plums were very ripe. I also didn't have a vanilla bean, so I just added organic gluten free vanilla at the end. Turned out great.
Thanks for the report Crystal!