Hey friends, juicy, ripe plums are in season and so its time to make homemade Plum jam without pectin. This recipe is a charm as it is a super simple and easy-to-follow recipe and makes absolutely delicious low-sugar jam. It tastes so good and needs just three pantry ingredients.
I think plum is the best fruit to make jam after strawberry jam because it has a lovely color, and rich thickness and it is scrumptiously tarty.
I love this jam in breakfast with cream and toasted bread and you will too. You can use this plum jam in tarts, creamy desserts, and ice cream toppings, over the pancake, on french toast, in shakes and cocktails, make plum drinks, in shortbreads, and so on.[feast_advanced_jump_to]
Plum jam is a great way to preserve the natural fruit goodness and store it whole year-round. Plum is rich in minerals vitamins and anti-oxidants.
What makes homemade plum jam more healthy is you can control the amount of sugar that goes in. You can read more benefits here.
This plum jam has only three ingredients that are Plum, sugar, and lemon. This is a small batch jam recipe that can be doubled or tripled and canned easily.
Plum is the main ingredient so the taste color and texture of plum will reflect in the resulting jam. Try to use a sweeter variety of fully ripened but firm plum. Very sour plums will require extra sugar for a balanced sweet and sour taste. Few visitors have tried this jam recipe with wild plums too and had amazing results. Learn more about Plum varieties here. Do have a look at my favorite plum ice cream and plum drink.
Sugar is a natural preservative in a jam, you need a certain amount of sugar to make jam, especially if making no pectin plum jam. For a sweet jam, you go beyond that amount and make it very sweet. Thats why in ingredients, I have mentioned both measures for less and more sugar in jam. The amount of sugar that goes in plum jam also depends on the sweetness of the fruit.
How to make it?
Sterilization steps, optional
Wash two jars (500 ml each) thoroughly with soapy water. Then sterilize jars in boiling water for 8 minutes. Also, boil the metal lids. Alternately, you can place washed jars while they are still wet in the baking tray. And roast jars in a preheated oven (160-180 C) for 15 minutes.
Dry on a clean towel. Let air dry naturally. Also, keep a few little plates or saucers in the freezer for Cold Plate Test.
- Wash and pit fully ripened plums.
- Take pitted plum, sugar, and lemon juice in the wide-based and thick-bottomed pot. No need to remove peels for plum jam. The peels are edible and high in antioxidants. You can adjust sugar to your preference. (Use at least 2 cups for low sugar jam and 2.5 cups for a sweet jam).
- Cook for 20 minutes on medium flame until soft. I like to skim foam from the top to remove dirt particles.
- After 15 minutes, when plums are soft mash them with a potato masher or blend the jam with an immersion blender. The peels are soft and break easily after cooking. If in case you are using a variety of plums with thick skin, they taste like fruit leather in the jam. You can pulse the jam in a blender or immersion blender to make it smooth and thickly spreadable.
- Cook jam for about half an hour on a very slow flame with occasional stirring. Frequently stirring and vigilant observation will be necessary as the jam reaches the setting point. When you draw a line on the spatula and it will stay, the jam is close to the jam setting point.
- Do a cold plate to see jam is ready to set. Place a large drop of hot jam on the freezer cold plate and wait for 30 seconds to cool. At this stage, I stopped but my jam doesnt set absolutely, its thick and spreadable. You can cook further for a thicker jam. This cold plate test will guide you on what your jam would look when cool. (Do not overcook or the sugar might caramelize and burn to make the jam bitter.)
- Transfer hot jam plum jam to clean and sterilized jars. Place the lid and turn the jars upside down. ( This causes a vacuum and helps avoid condensation. You can even test the seal, but make sure the jar was filled completely leaving only a ½-inch empty space on top.) )
- Store in the fridge if consuming immediately. Or seal it for canning and follow the water bath procedure if intending to store it in the pantry for a longer period. If you find canning overwhelming, freeze the plum jam.
Plum jam can be made, with fresh or frozen plums slices. It is important that plums are pitted before freezing otherwise pitting plums after cooking can be a nuisance.
No, peeling plum for plum jam without pectin is not necessary. In fact, as for most fruits peels are rich in antioxidants and so there is no need to waste them. The fiber from the peel also helps thicken the jam. Most importantly, the skin will disappear after blending.
Plums are high in pectin and it helps the jam to set as it cools. But natural pectin is not as effective as added pectin. So expect a soft jam that is spreadable and thick but not jelly-like or store-bought jam.
Tips for storing jams
This Plum jam has rich color and spreadable consistency since we are not using pectin, it will be thick in the jar but it will not set like regular jam. Check for more information on jams storage here and here.
- Homemade jams last for 4-6 weeks or more in the fridge without preservatives, if a proper sterilization process is followed. Use a clean spoon to serve each time.
- If you freeze jam, they can last up to 6 months or more. Although they never last that long.
- If you intend to seal and store jam at room temperature in the pantry. Then proper canning steps and store jam in the fridge after opening.
If you are making a small batch of jam you will store it in the fridge. And you intend to consume it within 4-6 weeks or freeze it. Then you can skip the sterilization steps. Using clean dry jars should be good enough. Although, I highly recommend following the steps as a precaution. If you want to can jam for storing it at room temperature for 6 months or more then follow the canning procedure mentioned here.
Hungry for more Plums and jams? Check these!
If you try this recipe, Id LOVE to hear your feedback in the comments. Your 5-ratings motivate me to do my best. Stay connected for more recipes and videos on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Youtube.
Plum Jam Recipe | Easy Homemade Jam without Pectin | 3 ingredients only
FAQ
Does lemon juice thicken jam?
How do you fix jam that didn’t set?
How do you thicken plum jam?
Turn on Saute and let the jam reduce down to a thick spreadable consistency. Break down the plums using a potato masher. Alternatively, blend using an immersion blender for a smoother consistency. Stir every 5-7 minutes to prevent the jam from sticking and burning at the bottom. (Pic 5) The jam will continue to thicken once it cools down.
Is prune a type of dried plum?
There are some types of plums in the world and it was from a French variety that the dried plum emerged. The plum has a firm pulp and a high sugar and acidity content, which allows the fruits to be dried with their cores intact, without fermentation. To produce prunes, they are left on the tree until they are fully ripe. Only then are they harvested and placed to dry between 15 and 24 hours under strictly controlled conditions. Prunes lose so much water in this process that to produce half a kilo of prunes, 1. 5 to 2 kilos of fresh prunes are needed. In the last stage, the plums are bathed in hot water to increase their moisture content and only then are they packaged for consumption.
How do you make plum jam without a pectin?
Plum Jam Recipe (No Peel, No Pectin!) 8 pint-sized jars with lids. Place pitted and halved plums into the mixing bowl & drizzle with 4 1/2 cups of sugar. Stir plums until all coated with sugar. Let them sit for 1 hour then transfer the mixture into a large cooking pot. Bring it to a boil uncovered, stirring occasionally.
How to thicken jam without pectin?
To use arrowroot powder to thicken your jam, mix it with a small amount of water to create a slurry, then add it to your jam mixture and cook until thickened. By cooking the jam for a longer period of time, it will naturally become thicker. This method is a simple and effective way to thicken your jam without the use of pectin.