The summer is waning and I have a massive backlog of recipes that are rapidly becoming moot as produce moves out of season. My plan for the next couple weeks is to keep my posts relatively simple and just get as many of these new preserves up here as I can before they are no longer timely.
This yellow plum jam variation is one I’ve made three times over the years and yet it hasn’t wound up on the blog or in any of my books. I find that yellow plums aren’t always easy to find, and so when I do stumble across them, I like to pick up a few pounds and make this jam.
This year, I came across yellow plums at my Saturday farmers market, where one of my favorite farmers had no more than a dozen pints, at just a buck a pint. So ripe that they barely made it back to my kitchen intact, I prepped them by squeezing them into pulp over a large measuring cup.
Because the plums were so sweet and ripe, I tempered them with a goodly amount of lemon juice to keep them from being cloying. If your plums are quite tart, back off on the lemon juice or skip it entirely (remember, when a recipe calls for fresh lemon juice, that’s your signal that it’s there for flavor balance, not safety. It’s only when a recipe indicates that you need to use bottled lemon juice that you should stick exactly to the amount of lemon juice called for).
Vanilla Yellow Plum Jam
Ingredients
- 3 pounds yellow plums about six cups of pulp
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 vanilla bean split and scraped
- Juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Prepare a small boiling water bath canner and 4 half pint jars.
- Chop or crush the plums, remove the pits, and combine them with the sugar and vanilla bean seeds. Stir to incorporate the sugar.
- Once the sugar is dissolved, set the pan on the stove over high heat and bring to a boil.
- Cook, stirring regularly for 15 to 25 minutes, until the fruit thickens and reduces by at least one-third.
- Taste and add lemon juice as needed.
- When the jam seems quite thick and glossy, remove it from the heat.
- Funnel the jam into the prepared jars. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.
- When time is up, remove jars from the canner and set them on a folded kitchen towel to cool.
- When jars are cool enough to handle, test seals. Sealed jars are shelf stable for at least one year. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used promptly.
I landed about nine pounds of yellow plums this past week while on vacation in Vermont. I coddled that box of fruit all the way home, and today made this jam. Delicious! I was not sure about including the vanilla, but added a mere 1/4 tsp to the double batch of jam, and it’s perfect. The texture is silky and so very spreadable. I would add that my plums were strongly blushed and the finished jam (including the skins) is a luscious golden pink color. Now I have to find more yellow plums. 🙂
When making this do you have to use a vanilla bean or can you use vanilla extract in its place?
These days, I use vanilla bean paste. It is cheaper than vanilla beans (they have skyrocketed in price) and has a more enduring flavor.
First time making jam and this is delicious! I read another recipe a couple of days ago but decided to stick with this one – peeled the plums and then read at the bottom in the comments that I didn’t have to (it was the other recipe that said to peel them). Made 2 300ml jars and both sealed in my home made water bath canner in a pot! Will be making more jam for sure after this success!
I am so glad to hear that this recipe worked so well for you!
Hi,
I found that juice of one lemon was way too much, as these plums have a tartness on their own. I should have tasted before I put it in.
Also, I needed to add another 3/4 cup of sugar to get my jam to set.
The vanilla seems to overpower the fragile taste of the plums.
Will try again.
Janet
I’m so sorry it didn’t produce the jam you were looking for. There are a number of different varieties of yellow plum, so perhaps I used one different from what you had.
Love this recipe . So beautifully simple and delicious
Thank you!