Cherry plum jam is great for homemade pastries. On a cold winter day, it can turn an evening tea party into a small celebration thanks to the amber color and summer aroma. Cherry plum retains vitamins and expressive taste even after prolonged heat treatment. Knowing the features of this fruit, you can easily cook jam from cherry plum on your own for the winter and delight homemade delicious desserts in the cold season.
The benefits of cherry plum
Doctors advise plum to eat for those who suffer from gastrointestinal tract disorders and liver diseases. This fruit is useful for pregnant women and recovering patients. Cherry plum is rich in vitamins and minerals, which are especially necessary in winter. Cherry plum jam is a tasty and reliable way to avoid seasonal vitamin deficiency.
Preparatory stage
Some varieties of cherry plum simply cannot be pitted without preliminary heat treatment. Typically, these fruits are used to make compotes, canning along with the seeds. But these sweet and fragrant fruits are so good in jams and jams! Making jam is a great way to harvest cherry plum, because the features of the process involve getting rid of seeds.
If you are using a variety that can be easily halved, peel the fruit in advance. This is the only thing that needs to be done at the preparatory stage. Jam from seedless cherry plum can be prepared from different varieties of these fruits. The peel does not need to be removed, it will become quite soft during cooking.
Proportions of jam and jam products
Usually, fruits and sugar are taken in equal parts to make jams. But cherry plum contains a large amount of fructose, so in order to make jam or jam from seedless cherry plum, other proportions are needed.
Usually, 600-700 grams of sugar are taken per kilogram of fruits, stoned. Much depends on the variety of cherry plum, because some of its species differ in acidity. And do not forget about your own culinary preferences. If you don’t like desserts that are too sweet, follow a 1: 0.6 ratio. But the sweet tooth may well bring its amount even to a ratio of 1: 1. If you use a sweet fruit variety, you can add a few slices of lemon or orange to the cooking jam. Water for these juicy fruits can not be used at all, they have enough natural moisture.
The process of making jam with syrup
Cherry plum jam will be even tastier if you cook the syrup separately from the slices. For this recipe, a variety is suitable, from which it is easy to take out the bones. This is best done in the evening. Cut cherry plum into halves, put in fireproof dishes, in which jam will be prepared. Sprinkle with sugar and leave until morning. In a few hours, the pieces of cherry plum simply drown in their own juice, which is released very quickly when interacting with sugar. In the morning they must be caught with a slotted spoon and put in a clean, dry dish. Put the syrup with the dissolved sugar on the fire, boil it, stirring constantly. Let it boil and then stand for about 20 minutes. Repeat the procedure 3 times. After this, pour cherry plum in syrup and cook jam for 3 days, bringing it to a boil twice a day. Thus prepared syrup turns out to be thick, homogeneous, similar to honey. Immediately after the last boil, pour the jam into sterile jars, seal and cover with a blanket. Transfer cooled cans to the pantry.
Cooking Jam
If you decide to make jam from cherry plum, from which it is difficult to remove the bones, you will have to tinker longer. Dissolve three kilograms of sugar in 2 liters of water. Heat over medium heat. Add 5 kg of fruit. To make them dispense juice faster, pierce them with a needle or just mash them with a pestle. Warm the jam, not boiling. Repeat the procedure several times until the fruit is soft. Next is the process of grinding. To do this, it is better to use a colander with a large mesh. Jam keeps the temperature for a long time, so try not to touch the mass with your hands. Use a spoon or ladle. Wipe off the fallen flesh through a sieve, and immediately remove the bones. When the whole mass is ground, put the jam on the fire and boil again. Continue until the product reaches the desired density.
Cherry plum jam in a slow cooker
If you have modern kitchen appliances at your disposal, the process can be accelerated and simplified. You can cook jam in just a couple of hours. Throw a kilogram of fruit with seeds in boiling water. Boil for 5 minutes, then fill with cold water. Now you can easily take out the bones. Add the plum pulp into a multicooker bowl, add 800 grams of sugar. Set the “Baking” mode and cook the jam for 45 minutes. If you wish, you can mashed the mass with a blender and get jam. It can be served immediately at the table or corked in a jar for the winter.