by Rosemary Scott, Deep Cove Market –
This year, prune plums were definitely in abundance. Hopefully like me, you pitted and froze some for later use, be it for jam, crumbles or cakes.
I haven’t made this recipe in years and my sister had a large surplus of these purple beauties and asked me if I would help her make this recipe for Christmas gifts. It makes the perfect hostess gift over the holidays and is amazing served over vanilla ice cream or paired with cheese.
This recipe is not complicated; however, it is made in stages and takes time. I started on a Thursday evening and finished on Saturday morning. Believe me, it is worth the time and effort! This is a single recipe and yields approximately eight, six-ounce jars. I quadrupled my recipe and we yielded 40 jam jars! Because I cooked such a large volume, the cooking time took about an extra 20 minutes to thicken.
So we begin:
1½ cups golden raisins
1½ cups currants
½ cup dark rum
3 medium-size seedless oranges
6 cups sugar
3 pounds prune plums, pitted and chopped
Combine the raisins and currants with the rum and let steep for several hours.
Peel the zest from the oranges and boil it until tender. Strain. Cool and cut the zest into julienne strips. Sprinkle with ½ cup of the sugar. Refrigerate for eight hours or more.
Remove and discard the remaining white skin from the oranges and chop the pulp. Combine with the remaining sugar, steeped raisins and currants and the plums. Refrigerate for eight hours or more.
Combine the sugared zest with the fruit mixture in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 minutes, or until thickened, stirring frequently.
Pour the mixture into hot sterilized jars. I just run my jars through the dishwasher and take them out one at a time to fill.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family has!
