ENTERTAINING Creative


Resident foodie Katy Hofstede-Smith


T


he wild plums of all varieties around at this time of the year always start me on the annual ritual of preserving, jarring, pickling and freezing which I


love. These recipes use cherry plums which are one of my favourites with their slight sweet/savoury flavor but they can be made with any other wild plums such as damson, bullace or Mirabelle.


CHERRY PLUM JAM


This is a really easy jam but lovely to cook with or at the breakfast table with its slightly tangy flavor. I like to include the skins for texture but feel free to remove if you prefer a smoother jam. If doing this you can skim off the fruit stones at the same time so don’t need to stone before cooking.


 1.5 kg cherry plums  1.25kg granulated sugar


1 Stone the plums using a cherry stoner and put into a preserving pan with 400ml water. Heat and simmer gently for approximately 20 mins until the fruit and skins are soft.


2 Add the sugar, stir to dissolve and bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer. Continue to simmer until the jam has reached setting point. I find the best way to test this is to add a few drops onto a saucer which has been kept in the freezer. Once the cooled jam wrinkles on the surface when pushed the jam has reached setting point.


3 Leave to cool very slightly to ensure that the fruit doesn’t float to the top (if it does it may need to be cooked for slightly longer) and bottle in sterilized jars.


24 | THE WESTCOUNTRY FOODLOVER


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