Plum Sauce from Mum and Dad's tree

After returning from holiday, we were lucky to snatch a bowl full of plums before the birds devoured them all. I picked through what was left on the tree, and left the pecked ones for the birds to finish later. I've picked plums from this tree all my life. Depending on late frosts, we don't always get any, but this year yielded plenty. Having made plenty of Jam in the last few weeks, I decided on Plum sauce for a change. The recipe is from an old book: The Complete Book of Home Preserving, by Mary Norwak, published in 1978.

Plum Sauce

1kg plums
225g sugar
500ml white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground mustard powder
1 teaspoon nigella seeds

Sterilise a large bottle by washing in hot soapy water then filling with boiling water. I used an old wine bottle.

Place the washed plums into a pot with the other ingredients. Don't worry about removing the stones, they will pop out later in the cooking process.

Stir well, bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. 











Sieve and return the puree to the pan. Some of the nigella seeds will be left behind.

Simmer for another 30 to 40 minutes stirring occasionally until the sauce had reduced in volume and thickened. 

Pour the hot sauce into the sterilised bottle and seal.

The sauce can be served as an accompaniment to any cold meat or cheese.

I Spy Plum Pie

"Each peach pear plum, I spy Tom Thumb..."
Little Miss 3 just loves this book; and as autumn is nearing and all the joys of late summer fruit are upon us it's time for one our favourite seasonal treats: Plum Pie. Part of the attraction is the opportunity to take the pie and the book to Preschool to share with her buddies. She was so excited and just couldn't wait to get out the door with her pie.

I adapted this pie from a recipe I found on-line at www.thekitchin.com

End of Summer Plum Pie

1 recipe of sweet pastry (previously blogged here - just leave the walnuts out)
20 Black Doris Plums
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter

Preheat the oven to 200 deg. C.
Roll out the pastry between two sheets of plastic food wrap.

Peel off the top layer and lay the pastry into the tin. Once in place peel off the second sheet of plastic wrap and place the lined tin into the fridge to chill.










Mix the dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Sprinkle a 1/4 of the dry mix over the bottom of the pie. Lay the plums into the pie, cut side down.









Sprinkle the remaining dry ingredients over top of the plums, letting it settle in between the plums. Dot the butter over the top of the pie.










Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 180deg. C for approximately 30 minutes until fruit is bubbling and the pastry is golden brown.

Serve warm or cold. It makes a lovely lunch box filler too.

All ready to go.
At preschool they read Each Peach Pear Plum at story time and shared the pie.
Happy little girl.

Delicious Plum Jam

The humble plum is much overlooked among today's vast selection of seasonal fruit. Many of the trees that once grew in everyone's back yard have been felled in favour of less maintenance intensive specimens. As such, many of my plum supplier options have dwindled. So when I spotted a case of Black Doris Plums in our local growers market, I knew they just had to be coming home with us. So many plums, so many possibilities, so getting riper by the minute. I just love plum jam. It's generally better to make small batches of jam, however, care of the chef, almost all of the case load was waiting all stoned and ready to make into after work jammy goodness.

I used the old standby recipe ratio of equal parts fruit and sugar by volume: 2 litres of cooked fruit pulp and 2 litres of sugar. Put the clean jars into the oven - set at 120deg. C - for about 15 minutes to sterilise them.


Add a little water to the pan to help the fruit cook down into  pulp. Use a potato masher to encourage the fruit to break up. Once the fruit is pulp, add the sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved.









My Grandmother would have told you that you shouldn't stir the jam until the sugar has melted, but I am not willing to risk the fruit catching on the bottom of the pan and burning. 
Boil the jam for about 10 minutes.










Take the pan from the heat and test a tablespoonful for setting by putting it on a plate in the fridge.

It will form a skin on top once its sufficiently set.

I also checked the temperature with a sweet thermometer. It should reach 104Deg C. If the jam hasn't reached the setting stage return it to the heat for another few minutes.




Use a jug to pour the jam into the hot jars and seal immediately. Leave to cool before storing in a cool dark place.


I always put a little of the newly made jam into a small container ready for my morning toast. 







At winter's height, there is nothing more satisfying than getting the home made jam out to fill a cake or make a jam tarts.