My father’s garden in Encinitas is blooming as usual! During our visit down south in mid-July, the plums were literally jumping off the tree. Jia Ching went ahead and climbed up to give the branches a shake and let the rest of the harvest loose. Countless plums rolled down the hill, filling my basket till it was clear that there was too many to consume over the few days we were home. The mix of juicy ripe and firm fruit made the promise of jam more appealing than ever.
We commandeered my parents’ kitchen for a long afternoon, jars boiling and fruit bubbling. The only misfortune was that we only gathered enough for four jars of jam when we would have liked much much more to share with our friends.
My first and long-anticipated foray into jam-making was a fun and fruitful experiment. Jia Ching had an inspired idea to throw some cardamom - one of my all time favorite spices - into the jam.
The recipe was a simple combination of a few things we read online. We don’t like our jam sweet and so we cut the sugar down by A LOT at the beginning and then added more to taste towards the end before we sealed it up.
So without further delay here is the recipe and a few more photos of our jammy jam:
1. Quarter four cups worth of small plums, removing the pits but keeping the skin on.
2. Combine the pulp, juice, and skins of the plums in a large saucepan over medium/high heat with a cup or so of water (depending on how juicy the plums are), two cups of sugar (or more if you don’t like your jam on the slightly tart end of the scale), and one tablespoon of crushed cardamom seeds (discard the green pods!) or powdered cardamom.
3. Bring everything to a boil and skim off the foam.
4. Once boiling keep on medium flame for 25-30 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. The fruit goes through several phases: bubbling foam, very liquid (you will wonder where all the fruit disappeared to!), then finally jam-like. Be sure to let the jam reduce until it has a more solid than liquid consistency and all the fruit is broken down.
5. Carefully, taste the jam with your finger or a spoon and add some more sugar if t’s too tart for your taste.
6. Once the jam is to your liking stir in another tablespoon of cardamom powder or crushed seeds.
7. If you’ve never canned preserves before, then I suggest you read up on this some more before attempting it based on my instructions. This is how we did it, a two person job for sure! While the jam was cooking we boiled four 8oz Kerr jars and the lids in a separate large stockpot (they need to be at a boil at the time of canning). When the jam is ready and the jars are boiling one person uses tongs and a towel to lift out the jar and the second person ladles the jam, filling to the line one inch below the rim of the jar. Then wipe the rim of the jar clean with a clean wet paper towel. Then uses tongs to take out the lid and make a clean seal on the jar, screwing the lid ring tight, but still a touch less than the tightest it can be.
8. Finally, flip the jar upside-down to rest on a clean cloth. This is one of a few methods that you can use to create a tight seal. After the jar cools (about one hour) the jam can be kept (right-side up of course) for at least one month if not more…that part is trial and error depending how well your sealing method worked!
Enjoy on toast or croissant or french toast or baguette with butter or lebneh or whatever you please! It makes a particularly fantastic pairing with some Cowgirl Creamery Wagon Wheel cheese. Bon appetit!
