Blackberry and Yellow Plum Jam Recipe

[Saviolo]

Ontario doesn't have the world's longest growing season, but all summer we get the most amazing variety of local fruits and veggies. The Niagara Escarpment has a microclimate that is perfect for wine grapes (particularly pinot noir, gewurztraminer, reisling, and cabernet franc) and also provides perfect growing conditions for many different stone fruit like apricots, nectarines, peaches, and plums. Right now we're coming to the end of apricot/plum season and just the beginning of peach season! But before it ends, I got a big mess of these amazing little golden plums. Sweet and tart, tons of flavour. Blackberry season was a little earlier in the summer, but I got some then and we froze them, and now we're making mixed-fruit jams!

Part of the reasoning here is that ripe blackberries don't have a whole lot of pectin to make jam, but these little golden plums have a lot. The blend of flavours is great, and the colour that comes at the end is gorgeous.

[japple]

1. Thank you for this video. I have tart red plum juice from earlier in the summer

and a lot of blackberries in the freezer. I will be making jam and jelly when we get a break from canning tomatoes.

Back in June, my sister got rhubarb from a farmers market and I combined that with peach which yielded a lovely jam. It's tart and sweet. Didn't gel very firmly, so it's the consistency of applesauce, but it doesn't matter when you spread it on toast.

Lucky you to be living in Ontario. We have visited a couple of times and had a great time, esp. when we took a tour of Kittling Ridge Wine/Spirits and were treated to a taste of their delicious ice wine. We also ate tons of plums & apricots. When we visited Ottawa, we spent most of our time at the farmers market eating raspberries and other fruits.

[Saviolo]

2. Mmm, love me some rhubarb.

We have a video on a pretty easy apple rhubarb compote, as well. If you're using just the juice, do you need to add pectin to help it gel? It was my understanding (I could be wrong) that most of the pectin is in the skins.

Yeah, there are some stunning wineries in Ontario. Kacaba is my current favourite. Also a big fan of Henry of Pelham, Hillebrand, Organized Crime, and Southbrook.

[japple]

5. The rhubarb we had was from green plants and I just trimmed off the tough part at the

bottom and chopped up the stalks into 1" pieces. It cooked down very well. I can't remember, but think I followed a recipe for strawberry/rhubarb jam that I found online, substituting peaches for the strawberries. My daughter made raspberry rhubarb last summer and it was heavenly! I don't often find rhubarb in my area, but I would love to try that apple rhubarb recipe.

With the plums, I cooked the fruit with skins on then strained it afterwards. I haven't made the jam yet, so I don't know if it will need added pectin. I usually just use a candy thermometer and let it cook to the jelly stage @210 degrees F.

[Saviolo]

6. I grew up with rhubarb in the back yard.

We had a rhubarb plant in the back yard of my house growing up. We also determined that it's nigh impossible to kill! But I ate a lot of rhubarb growing up. Mom made strawberry rhubarb pies and whatever was leftover would go over ice cream. We'd even just eat rhubarb. We'd get a little dish of sugar, and dip the tip of a stalk of rhubarb in it, and gnaw on the sweet/sour end.

[mitch96]

3. How well do these fruits do with canning??

It would be amazing to pop a jar open when the snow is deep... LOve the cold plate trick...
m

[Saviolo]

4. Very well!

In the description of the video I linked the USDA canning guidelines hosted by UGeorgia, which you can find here:

https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html

You definitely want to skim the froth off of the top of the jam as it's boiling, because it can cause bubbles in your final product which may contain oxygen, and therefore encourage the growth of things you don't want growing. Make sure everything you're using to cook and can with are completely sterile, etc... and these preserves will be shelf stable at room temperature, and then it's a case of refrigerate after opening.

[mitch96]

7. sounds good!! tnx............. nt