Plum Conserve Jam! made with tart plums and pluots, orange slices, raisins and chopped walnuts.
A “conserve” is a jam made with a mixture of fruit, usually including some citrus, and often nuts and raisins. It can be served as a topping over pound cake, ice cream, or along side meat such as pork or chicken, or just on its own.
This delicious recipe comes from a Simply Recipes reader, Lou Grubaugh, who shares her favorite old family recipe for plum conserve.
We didn’t quite have the 3 pounds of tart plums that the recipe called for, so I substituted a few not-quite-ripe pluots, and some perfectly ripe plums too.
Naturally tart Santa Rosa plums work best for this conserve, but if you don’t have them, a combination of tart plums and pluots will do fine.
Do you have a special plum recipe? See our post on plums and add your favorite to the comments of that post.
Love Jam? So Do We! Try Some More!
Plum Conserve Jam Recipe
- Prep time: 20 minutes
- Cook time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Makes 5 to 6 pints
Ingredients
- 7 cups seeded, chopped tart plums (about 3 pounds)
- 4 cups sugar
- 1 navel orange, thinly sliced, including rind
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced, including rind, seeds removed
- 3 1/2 cups raisins
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Special equipment:
- 6 pint-sized mason jars
- 1 large 6 to 8-quart sized pan (Stainless steel, do not use aluminum which will leach)
- A ladle or pour cup for transferring the conserve from the pan to the jars
Method
1 Prepare jars for canning: Prepare jars for canning in any of the following ways: You can run them through a short cycle on your dishwasher.
You can place them in a large pot (12 quart) of water on top of a steaming rack (so they don’t touch the bottom of the pan), and bring the water to a boil for 10 minutes.
Or you can rinse out the jars, dry them, and place them, without lids, in a 200°F oven for 10 minutes.
2 Put plums, sugar, orange, lemon, and raisins into a large 6 or 8-quart pan. Heat until boiling. Gently boil for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring frequently, or until the mixture starts to thicken slightly.
If you want, use kitchen shears to cut some of the longer citrus rinds.
Stir in walnuts.
3 Carefully ladle the conserve into the jars, one at a time, leaving 1/4 inch head space at the top of the jars for a vacuum seal.
Wipe the rim clean with a clean, wet paper towel. Place the lid on the jar, securing with a jar ring.
Allow the jars to sit overnight. You will hear them make a popping sound as a vacuum seal is created.
