Every year we seem to always have boxes of plums. We had a tree in our previous two homes and when it is plum season we always have boxes of plums to use up.
Plums are probably my least favorite fruit to eat so preserving them and making something out of them makes more sense to me.
Plum Fruit Roll-Ups
This is our favorite way of eating plums. They go real quick this way.
What you need:
- plums chopped and pitted
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
In a food processor put all the ingredients. Blend until smooth. You can always add more honey if it is not sweet enough.
Pour onto a pan with parchment paper. Spread it pretty thin.
We use our dehydrator that we got from Cabela’s and I place it on 130 degrees F. I usually leave it in for one day. I check on it until it is completely dry.
We have a dehydrator and we love it but you can always use your oven. Put your oven at 140 degrees F or lowest setting for 6 to 8 hours.
Once the middle is no longer wet remove it. Let it cool and then roll and cut it in half.
Store in fridge for two weeks.
Plum BBQ Sauce
We love marinating our meats with plum sauce.
- Chop up about eight plums.
- 1 cup of ketchup
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 shallot chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Place all ingredients in blender until smooth. In a saucepan, bring all the ingredients to a boil and then reduce heat for fifteen to twenty minutes.
Place in Mason jars and keep in fridge for two weeks or can.
Plum Syrup
This is a tasty way to preserve your plums. All you need is:
- fresh plums
- a small amount of water
- sugar
- lemon juice
- ground cinnamon
You first want to wash and pit the plums.
In a pot you want to add enough water to cover the bottom to prevent from burning. Place chopped plums in pot and heat to medium-low and cover for ten minutes.
Make sure you stir it to prevent it from burning. Lower your temperature.
It should take about thirty minutes. Then the plums will become mushy. This is where all the juices are released. Turn off heat.
Place a cheesecloth and pour the plum mixture through the cheesecloth.
You should now have plum juice. For every cup of plum juice add one cup of sugar and some lemon juice. You can also add a little bit of syrup. Heat everything again.
You can now can the syrup.
Plum Jam
You really can’t go wrong with making jam.
What you need:
- 1 pound of plum
- 3/4 brown sugar
- 1 lemon for lemon juice
To be honest with you when I make jam I just cut up the fruit and add sugar to taste. I prefer less sugar because fruit naturally is sweet. I also keep the skins of the plums and I like to have pieces of fruit in my jam. So if you want it smooth then puree your plums in a food processor. Then put your cut up or pureed plums into a heavy bottom pot. Stir the sugar and bring to a boil over medium-high. Then reduce heat. Add some lemon juice. Boil until it becomes jam-like. I like to stir my jam constancy. If your not sure how to check if it is ready, place a small amount of jam on a cold plate. If its is too runny then cook it some more.
I boil our lids and jars in a separate water bath. Then when the jam is ready I put the jam in jars and let cool and put one in the fridge or I place in a big pot the jars of jam in water and on medium heat can them for thirty minutes. If your canning you want to make sure the the jar rims are dry so that you get a good seal.
Plum ice-cream
To make the ice cream you first need to cut up the plums in cube pieces. Then place the plum in the freezer for 12 to 24 hours. We kept our plums in the freezer for only a few hours because we did not want it to be too cold. We also bought the dessert bullet at Walmart for $33.00. Our kids love making ice cream with it. What can be healthier and better than frozen fruit ice cream?
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