Sugared, spiced and everything nice!

With the closing of the summer jam season and the last jam recipe for this year, I decided to shift my efforts towards my preparation for the winter holidays. I know, I know, how can I possibly be thinking of Christmas when it’s eighty degrees outside? It’s very easy, I don’t want it to be eighty degrees outside. I’d rather if it were thirty degrees, cuddled in my favorite sweater watching the snowfall. Unfortunately I have a bit more time to wait before it’s winter and Christmas but that doesn’t mean I can’t prepare for it! 

My Spiced Sugar Plum Jam will be used for a Christmas dessert that I will be making come the holiday baking season. With plums being in season I figured, why shouldn’t I utilize them when they are at their best?! I could preserve the plums, capture their sweet plummy flavor, and let the spices become one with the plums. This plan is absolutely perfect! My Christmas cake won’t know what hit it, it’s going to be so delicious! Ahem, ok I got a bit too excited. Can you blame me? The very idea of baking for Christmas gets my creative juices flowing and that alone makes me excited. So many bakes, so many ideas, soooo little time! Please don’t mind my excitable outburst.

However, that’s what I’m planning to use this beautifully spiced jam for. Don’t let my intentions stop you from making this plum jam for your pantry stock. If you love warm baking spices associated with fall and winter but don’t want to wait, then don’t! Even on the hottest day of the year, you will be reminded of those splendid crisp autumn months. Now, how can that be a bad thing?

Spiced Sugar Plum Jam

*Make 3 half pint jars

14 plums peeled and sliced

1 cup light brown sugar

1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp kosher salt

In a medium sized pot, combine your brown sugar with your peeled and sliced plums. Stir the plums and sugar together until sugar is fully dissolved, add the rest of the ingredients. 

Set your plum mixture on medium heat and cover the pot. Cook until the plums become soft and are able to be mashed with a potato masher. 

Once you’ve mashed up the plums, set the jam to low heat. You want to slowly cook out the liquid in order to let the spices meld into the plums and concentrate the spicy, sweet flavors. Jam will be done when it has thickened and is rid of its excess liquid, double check with the spoon test. 

When your jam is entirely set you can seal it in jars to store in your pantry for 18 months or store in glass containers for at least 3 months. To see how I seal my jam jars, please give my recipe for Pleasantly Tart Raspberry Jam a look.

*Notes: I chose to peel the plums to insure that I had a sweeter jam. You can easily wash your plums and cook the peels on your plums. This will result in a more tart and red jam instead of a sweeter white jam.  

Unlike my other jams, I like to put the lid on the pot to steam the plums. This helps to soften them without losing too much liquid in the process.