Mirabelle plum jam

St Matthew's Primary School let us gather some of the fallen plums under their formidable mirabelle plum tree. I've turned them into delicious jam, and wanted to share the recipe here.

What you'll need

  • Clean jam jars and lids - sterilised with hot water

  • 1 KG stone fruit like plums, gages or cherries

  • 1KG jam sugar

  • a coldander

  • a pot with a lid

  • about an hour of your time

Method

Step 1: wash

Wash the mirabelle plums with cold water.

Step 2: soften

Boil with very little water in a pot with the lid on, until the fruit turn soft.

Step 3: mash

I used a potato masher to separate the pulp from the stones.

Step 4: de-stone

Take off the heat and pass through a colander. I removed the last few stones by hand (once it's cool enough to touch).

Step 5: add jam sugar

Return the pulp to a pot, add jam sugar as per packet. Usually it's 1kg of sugar to 1kg fruit. Let sugar dissolve, boil for a few minutes. To test if it's ready to set, spread a spoonful of jam onto a cold plate and see if it thickens after a few moments.

Step 6: pot up

Fill the finished jam into re-used jam-jars.