We’re currently vacationing in France, and we’re all in the relaxed mode. The kids love running around the house here (it’s an old little farm dating from 1781), swimming in the pool and playing in the little play-house their grandfather made for them.
Yesterday we went to the local pottery center where I bought some lovely pots, and afterwards I spent my day picking plums and blackberries and making jams. Life is good when it’s simple like this!
The plum jam turned out quite well, and I thought I’d give you the recipe. It’s very easy and the lemon gives it a nice and tangy accent.
Here’s how to do it:
Mix the plums and apples with the sugar and leave them for at least 2 hours. Then transfer the mixture and the sugary syrup in a pot, add the lemon zest and vanilla pod and gently bring to a boil. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Rinse clean jars in hot water. Fill jars with plum jam, close and put upside down to cool. (I needed 4 jars, but it depends on the size obviously!)
Enjoy on fresh French bread with lots of butter!
xxx Esther
For a printable version of this recipe, click here.
Comments (11)
Hello! I love plums and plum jam. I used to make it with my mom when we lived in Poland.
Now, here in the USA I usually just buy it a store, but it not the same as a home made.
I plan to go with my family (a husband and twin daughters (will be 2 years old in January) to France next Spring. I am actually in a research stage and trying to figure out where to go. It seems like you are in a nice place – old house and local market and lots of play space for kids. Will you be able to share any recommendations? We do not care about beach at all. Prefer a small town or a village with a walking distance to a store or an eatery. And lots of nature. 🙂 Thank you in advance.
This recipe sounds delicious! I made my first blackberry jam at the weekend, so easy and so good! Will definitely try out this recipe – thanks!
I’ll definitely try that…. good idea to have pdf recipes to print out now, thanks!!!!
Yumm… We have a plum tree in our front garden that is ready for picking! Can’t wait to make jam. Thanks for the recipe.
xoxo
Off to the French countryside next week and hopefuly there will still be some plums on the trees, I cannot wait to try out this jam!
that sounds delicious! just printed it out- thanks!
And? I wonder how all your jams turned out!
About our location in Frnace: we were in the Cantal, a part of the Auvergne. It’s located south from the Massive Central, and absolutely one of the most beautiful parts of France. The nature is stunning, and there are wonderful local products like cheese and sausage that are famous worldwide, and can here be found at local farmer’s markets.
There are numerous small villages that are wonderful. I would suggest renting a car though!
Good luck, and let me know if you need more info!
A friend of the family just gave my parents a huge amount of plums from their tree, so i told my Mum i’d make some jam. i’ll let you know how it turns out! 🙂
i made it!!! it’s delicious!
while making it i was concerned that 750g of sugar to 750g of plums is A LOT and i think it is, so i added more plums.
and then i didn’t know what the measurement for “two bags of vanilla” was. thank goodness my Mum said the bags are probably an ounce or so each because i was ready to use a whole lot! (i’ve never used vanilla sugar before and have never made jam before).
was yours watery as well? did i do something wrong?
thank you!
Hi Anna-Aliza,
Glad it turned out alright! I agree the amount of sugar is insane, but this is usually the rule for jams: 1 kilo sugar to 1 kilo fruit. I think it has to do with preserving it.
My jam was a bit runny as well, this has to do with the amount of pectin in the variety of plum you use. Maybe next time you can add a bit of pectin?
For the vanilla sugar, those bags are indeed super small. I think one little bag can be compared with about 1/2 a teaspoon of pure vanilla essence…
thanks for all that info!
my dad loved the jam, but he also agreed i needed to add pectin. next time! 🙂 but the taste is definitely there and it’s really good.
this was the first time i had ever made jam, so i had no idea what to expect.
thank you!