Every year the little plum tree in our backyard provides us with dozens and dozens of tasty plums. These aren’t the traditional purple plums that are found in the store; the flesh is yellow and incredibly sweet while the skins range in colour from red to purple depending on the ripeness and are very tart.

They are great for fresh eating but once cooked, the skins become bitter, so after years of piling sugar onto cakes, pies and tortes made with the frustrating fruit, we finally resigned ourselves to just eating as many fresh plums as possible and letting the rest spoil on the ground.

Then, a few years ago, it struck me that I might as well try to make plum jam with our surplus of plums. I had never made jam before, so I decided that I really didn’t care if I messed up the canning process or if the plums made awful jam.

A few hours later, I knew what all our extra plums would be used for in the future. The plum jam had been quick and easy to make, and tasted fabulous!

The tart skins of the plums I use are perfect for making a tangy, flavourful jam, but this recipe will work perfectly whether you are using wild plums, store-bought plums or the tart-skinned, yellow-fleshed plums similar to the ones that we grow. [Read more…]