Spiced Plum Jam

I'm finally out of last year's jams.  So I made a quart batch of strawberry-lavender, and decided to add pectin to avoid so much excess jelly.  Opened the packet, dumped it in the nearly-finished jam, and realized it had molded.  Had to toss the whole thing and start over.

As long as I was going to the trouble, I decided to make another batch of something.  Plums were on sale.  I found this recipe in Food in Jars.  Marisa really likes plums, and there were several recipes to choose from.  Since I've been cooking Fall and Winter recipes lately, I opted for the one that more or less has pumpkin spice in it.  Just needs ginger to put it over that line.

The kitchen smelled like Christmas for two days.  I'm going to have to find some way to use this jam in Christmas cookies.  Probably hamantaschen.  I'll make those any time of year.

I made half of her already small recipe, because I'm really trying not to repeat last year's over-preserving mania.  I also used my new jar of powdered pectin instead of the liquid she calls for.  What I did for both this and the strawberry jam was to reserve some cooled liquid for dissolving the powder, then add it at the end of cooking.  It isn't how most recipes or the jar tell you to do it, but it achieved the desired result.  If I was making larger batches of jam, I'd follow the instructions.

8 C pitted and finely chopped plums
3-1/2 C sugar
*zest and juice of 1 lemon
*2 tsp cinnamon
*1/2 tsp nutmeg
*1/4 tsp cloves
2 packets liquid pectin

1.  If canning, prepare jars for a 4-pint yield.  Get your water bath boiling.

2.  Combine the plums and sugar in a large pot.  Stir until the plums release enough juice to dissolve all the sugar.  Bring to a boil and add juice and spices.  Cook over high heat, stirring frequently, until plums are very soft and everything looks syrupy.  This will take between 10 and 20 minutes, depending on ripeness.  Mine were on the crunchy side, so it took a while.

3.  Add the pectin and bring to a full boil for 5 minutes.  It will look thick and shiny, like the photo at the top.

4.  If canning, remove pot from the heat and ladle into prepared jars.  Wipe rims, secure lids, and process for 10 minutes.  If not canning, allow jam to cool uncovered until no longer steaming.  Transfer to storage container, refrigerate, and use within a month.

Makes about 4 pints

Difficulty rating  :)