Italian Plum Jam

a basket full of beautiful organic plums

these plums are super sweet and juicy

8 cups of chopped plums can be cooked at one time in my pot

the jam turning into a beautiful magenta colour

cooked jam ready to be ladled into jars

enjoying the luscious spread on my bagel

our supply for the next half year :)

Thanks to our neighours, Jonathan, Deborah and Leo who generously gave us their wonderful crop of sweet juicy plums.  It was quite a bit of work making these home-made jam, but definitely very satisfying and rewarding and we look forward to enjoying our jam every morning.

Ingredients

8 cups italian plums, washed and pitted

4 cups sugar

juice of 1 lemon

rind of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

1. Chop the plums into small pieces.  Place them in a large pot and mash the plums as much as you can.  Add all other ingredients except brandy in the pot and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium low and continue stirring to prevent it from burning and remove any foam during the stirring.
3. Let it simmer for about 45 mininutes to an hour or until the mixture is slightly thick.  I like the consistency of my jam to the thickness of it dropping by heaps within seconds when dropped from a ladle.  Turn off heat and add brandy to the cooked jam and mix well.
4. Boil the jars and lids in a pot of boiling water for 5 mins. Remove the sterilized jars from the pot using a tong.
5. Ladle the jam into the jars leaving about 1 cm space on top.  Cover with lid and let it cool.
6. When cooled, store them in the refrigerator and enjoy the luscious and super delicious plum jam within 6 months.