You will absolutely love, love love, this Low Sugar Plum Jam Recipe! It packs a little tart punch, because not only is it low sugar, I add lemon juice to spruce it up a bit, as well! So, bear with me this post! It is the first post I ever did, on September 11, 2014, when I had no clue what I was doing! I will leave most of the original text and some of the images, but give it a badly needed facelift.
Well, here goes nothing! My first Post! I have always thought about writing a cookbook. I still have a huge three ring binder full of recipes I have collected since I was about 12. The ‘Early Collection’ consists of lots of jellos, cakes, cookies and desserts! In other words, the 4 basic food groups for a twelve year old!
Thankfully over the years my tastes have changed, or I would weigh as much as a house! Moving right along… in this age of technology, I have switched to saving my recipes “in the cloud”. So in recent years I added 100’s of recipes on the smart phone (I use Chef Tap, it’s easy to use and for $9.99 a year you can’t beat it! Update they just raised it $15.99 a year if you have over 125 recipes on it) and spend every waking moment possible inventing and locating healthier dishes, with lots of flavor and fresh ingredients!
Living in Upstate NY, near Lake Ontario has it’s benefits this time of year (Ask me in the winter and you’ll get a totally different response). Namely, fresh fruit! We are surrounded by Orchards on all sides! Fresh Plums, Peaches, Nectarines, Apricots and tons of Berries are ripe for the taking! My next door neighbor at LaMora Farms, has approximately 500 acres in stone fruits and apples. He generously donates fruit that has lost some of it’s appeal for his stand. That is to say 5- 10% are past their prime and are tossed. The other 90% are perfect for fresh Jams, Jellies, Preserves, Salsas and Desserts. You get the picture!
Last week the donation was 4 baskets of peaches and 1 basket of plums! Score!! Naturally, I had to make this Plum Jam Recipe first! It is my all time favorite jam!
How to make this Low Sugar Plum Jam Recipe
Wash jars, lids and bands in hot, soapy water. Rinse thoroughly. Sterilize jars in a water bath canning pot for approximately 10 minutes. Place lids and bands in another small saucepan and cover with boiling water. Let jars, bands and lids stay in the hot water until ready to fill.
- Blanch Plums.
- Peel plums
- Chop plums. Add plums, water, lemon juice and pectin to large pot.
When it comes to a full rolling boil (one that can’t be stirred down), add sugar all at once. Again, bring the mixture to a full rolling boil and continue to boil hard for at least 1 full minute. Immediately ladle into hot sterilized jars. Put on lids and hand tighten rings. (Not too tight!) Place jars in a water bath canning pot and process for 10 minutes. Let jars rest in canning pot an additional 5 minutes. After the rest remove the jars from the canning pot and let cool on the counter for 24 hours. After a short amount of time you will here the lids “pop” that is always a good thing because that means that they have sealed.
Check the lids after the 24 hours. Any lids that snap in the middle have not sealed properly and should be refrigerated. The sealed jars are best stored in a cool, dark place, like a basement.
Last year I bought a utensil kit which includes a jar lifter, lid lifter, and a funnel for about 10 dollars. It has saved me a few burns since!!!
This year I found a jar of Ball pectin. 3 tablespoons equals one of the old boxes and the jar makes 22 half pints of jam. It is a lot cheaper, if you process a lot of preserves. I always use low sugar recipes to reduce our sugar intake. The flavor in the low sugar recipes is much brighter. More reminiscent of actual fruit, instead of sugar. We actually prefer it to full sugar jams. Here is a Strawberry Low Sugar Jam! I hope you like the Plum Jam Recipe today! Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to sign up for my mailing list so you don’t miss any new recipes!
Due to my background in horticulture, I had several readers request a tutorial on Vegetable Gardening. So if you have interest in the subject, these posts are packed full of information about how to get that big harvest by the end of the season! Don’t miss my How to Start a Garden Series! The first part is Planning Your Garden! Second is Preparing the Garden Site. The third is Choosing Plants and Planting Your Garden. The fourth is Garden Maintenance, and the last is Harvesting a Garden and Preserving the Harvest, this post has over 100 FREE recipes for preserving your harvest!
Enjoy! And have fun cooking!
Xoxo,
Low Sugar Plum Jam Recipe
Ingredients
- For every 2 half pint jars you need:
- 1 1/3 cups prepared fruit
- 1/3 cup Unsweetened Fruit Juice thawed frozen juice concentrate or water
- 3 tsp Bottled Lemon Juice I use it for this plum jam. ***See Note section below for important notes!!***
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Low Sugar Pectin
- up to 1/2 Cup sugar, sugar substitute or honey sugar substitute or honey
Instructions
- I wanted to post a link to this recipe from Ball’s Website www.freshpreserving.com but I cannot find one. They are all listed separately. There are some great tips on the website, though. You should check it out, if you have an interest in canning.
- I always blanch my plums, peaches and cherries and then transfer them to a water bath. It is soooo much faster than peeling. The skins just slip right off. It reduces your prep time by half.
- Prepare jars. Wash in hot soapy water and rinse thoroughly. Place directly in water bath canning pot. Cover clean jars with water about 2 inches above jars. Boil jars for 10 – 15 minutes to sterilize. Let jars sit in hot water until ready to fill.
- Place washed lids in a small saucepan and cover with boiling water. Let sit until ready to use. I also add my ladle and funnel to this pot to sterilize them. Peel and cut plums into small chunks. Add to 8 qt. sauce pan. Mash with potato masher. Add water.
- Measure sugar and pectin. Add a few tablespoons of sugar to pectin.
- Bring plums to a boil and add pectin/ sugar mixture. Bring to a full boil (one that can’t be stirred down).
- Add the rest of sugar all at once. Again, bring to a full boil and boil for 1 full minute.
- Fill jars, leaving 1/2" headspace. Wipe rim of jars with clean paper towel and place lid on. Add band and tighten to fingertip tight.
- Place filled jars into canning pot and bring to boil. Low boil for 10 minutes.
- Turn off heat and allow to sit in water for 5 minutes. Remove them to counter and let them cool.
- After 24 hours, check lids by pushing down in center. If lids flex up and down, the jar is not sealed and should be refrigerated.
- Jars that have sealed should be stored in a cool place for a year. (If it lasts that long!)
- This recipe makes 2 half pint jars jam.
Notes
Recipe can be multiplied, but don't do more than 5 times the recipe. The jam has a tendency not to set properly.
Test lids for seal. Press center of lid down in the middle. If it flexes up and down, jar is not sealed.
If lids have not sealed, store those jars in refrigerator and consume those jars first.
Store in a cool place.
Use up to 1/2 cup sugar. I usually use over 1/4 cup but under 1/2 cup of sugar.
Nutrition
Originally Published 9/11/2014
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I picked about 4 gallons of small tart plums and not knowing what to do with them I cooked them in my crockpot overnight and used a collendar to separate the pulp from the seeds and skin. I now have
about 3 1/2 gallons of plum juice: Can you give me a suggestion on how to make this juice into jam.
Just substitute the plum juice for the prepared fruit and fruit juice in this recipe. You are going to have a whole lot of plum jam! I’m jealous! It’s one of my favorites!
Can I use only honey in this receipe along with pectin
Yes, you can substitute honey for the sugar with great results! Thanks for stopping be the blog, Mary!
I’ve never made plum jam, so I can’t wait to try this!
It is my absolute favorite ever! Thank you Krissy! Have a great weekend!
I’ve been making homemade jams and jellies for years, but just recently made my first batch of plum! Your pics look so inviting. I just want to pull up a chair to that table and have a biscuit.
Thank you Lisa! That is very kind of you to say! Have a great weekend!!
This plum jam looks like the perfect addition to some scones in the morning! I love plums but have never made plum jam before. Can’t wait to try!
oh, it really is one of my favorites! Thanks Marlynn!
Your first post! How awesome. And I love it when jams are low sugar and a little tart!
Yes, kind of fun to revisit the old ones! The photos were so hideous!! Lol! Thanks Tracy!
I love the idea of a tart jam. I often find most jams to be too sweet. I bet this would be wonderful as an ice cream topping as well.
Oh, yes, for sure! It would be awesome on ice cream! Thanks, Vicky!
Oooh! You know how I love jam! Send me some?? I’m proud of you! This is a great start!
Thanks, Sis! I’ll send you a care package!