tanyaarts1@gmail.com A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Words from a love story that are apropos to this fruit of a rose relative that is just as sweet, and we love so dearly. Like the famous love story, this fruit also has a beloved juxtaposition of bitter skins and sweet flesh that do well in myriad applications. From sweet pies to spicy BBQ sauce, this fruit is sure to delight.
Let’s start with some basic ideas to quickly preserve a large bounty.
- Dehydrate into prunes or fruit leathers
- Freeze dry
- Make baby food
- Can fruit in juice or syrup, either alone or as part of a fruit cocktail, with or without additional spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, or allspice
- Can some jam or make a quick freezer jam
- Juice them for making gummies, soda, jellies, sorbets or many other things later
- Flavor your favorite fermented drink like kombucha or water kefir
- Slice or chop and freeze for making your favorite recipes later
There are also many other options if you have a bit more time on your hands or are looking for a more unique preserving opportunity.
- Plum wine and flavored vodka or gin like this Slivovitz
- Plum butter
- Can your favorite pie filling or crumble/cobbler base for later
- Make a sweet sauce and can to use on ice cream, hot cereals or pancakes
- Make a savory sauce (like a BBQ, Worcestershire, Asian, or chipotle sauce) and can to use on meat and rice dishes
- Plum salsa is great fresh, fermented, or canned
If you are looking for something on a smaller scale or tonight’s dinner, there are many options.
- Plums go well with a variety of meats, like this duck recipe or this Chicken Plum Pie
- Plums lend themselves very well to a variety of sweet breads
- They can mix well with other meatless options such as mushrooms and make a great side dish on their own like these Balsamic Goat Cheese Grilled Plums
- And no meal is complete without dessert… puddings, dumplings, custards, pinwheel cookies, and cakes
Spice up your favorite stand-by recipes with these less common accompanying flavors. Turn a standard jam recipe into a Rosemary Plum Jam or a standard tart into a Plum and Orange Blossom tart.
- Orange
- Jalapeno, chipotle, or other hot peppers
- Ginger
- Peach, apricot or other stone fruits
- Raspberry, strawberry and other berries
- Black pepper
- Cardamom
- Rosemary
Did you get these from your garden? If so, check out these ideas for using other parts of the plant.
- Start preserving early by pickling the green fruits
- Plum blossom liquor
- Decadent truffles using plum blossoms
- Make your own Plum blossom tea
- Or try a variety of confections utilizing the delicate blossoms
And don’t forget to save those scraps, it’s amazing what can be done with what most people throw out.
- Skins and pits can be boiled with sugar to make syrup, jelly, or made into vinegar
- Most sources say that the kernels can’t be safely eaten, but others disagree
Once you’ve used all you can, make sure to add scraps to your compost bin to keep your garden producing the bounties that we love to consume in so many different ways!
