Plum butter with orange

It’s amazing how delicious this plum butter is! The addition of the zest and juice of one orange per 1 kg of plums works absolute magic. I cooked the plum butter over two days, without using any gelling agents. It retained its beautiful deep plum colour and tastes absolutely incredible. Perfect for stocking the pantry for winter or as a delicious twist on traditional plum butter. Mine didn’t last long at all – it disappeared in no time, and the next recipe on the blog will feature it. In the meantime, you simply have to give this one a try!

Makes 2 jars.

Ingredients for the plum butter:

• 1 kg Italian prune plums (or other dessert plums)
• ½ cup water
• finely grated zest and juice of 1 large orange
• 250 g caster sugar

Halve the plums and remove the stones. Place them in a wide saucepan. Add the water, orange zest and orange juice. Bring to the boil, cover, then cook for about 15 minutes, or until the plums are very soft. Remove the lid, then press the mixture through a fine sieve to remove the skins. Return the smooth plum purée to the saucepan. Add the sugar to the purée. Cook the plum butter over a low heat, uncovered, stirring from time to time, until the liquid has reduced by at least half. It’s best to spread the cooking over two days, allowing the mixture to cool between cooking sessions.

How do you know when the plum butter is ready? Place a small plate in the freezer. Spoon a little of the hot plum butter onto the chilled plate. After about 1 minute, gently touch the surface. If a skin has formed and wrinkles when pushed with your finger, the plum butter is ready.

Sterilise the jars (either with boiling water or in an oven preheated to 100°C). Pour the boiling plum butter into the hot jars and seal tightly. Leave to cool.

Pasteurising is optional if the hot plum butter has been poured into sterilised jars, sealed immediately and turned upside down.

Pasteurising:

Line the bottom of a large saucepan with clean tea towels. Arrange the filled jars inside and pour in hot water until it reaches about three-quarters of the way up the jars. (The temperature of the water should match the temperature of the jars to prevent them from cracking.) Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the jars and leave them to cool completely. Some people also turn the jars upside down and wrap them in blankets, leaving them overnight to cool slowly.

Note: Any variety of plums can be used, but the sweetness will vary, so adjust the amount of sugar to taste. The variety of plums will also affect the final colour of the plum butter. I used President plums.

Enjoy!