Plum Sauce and other questions?

Would it matter if you made plum sauce out of green gage plums or do they have to be red plums. Also does it matter if you're making jam and the red plums are a little bit green! I know I'm a silly cow but have millions of these plums and really excited about making jam and sauce!

Lillol, firstly you are definitely not " a silly cow " for asking a sensible question or even a non-sensible question ( yours is one of the sensible variety ). We like all kinds of questions here in Recipes and most of us try our best to answer them. Yes, you certainly can make plum sauce with greengage plums and it is always best to include some underripe fruit in jam.

I think greengage sauce would taste OK but may look a rather odd colour.I know that sauce made with Shiro yellow plums tastes fine but doesn't look great.It's fine to use slightly underripe fruit for jam - really ripe fruit has more taste but pectin levels are lower so is less likely to set.amix of slightly underripe and ripe fruit will be fine but actually green will not taste good.Greengage jam is lovely - I have made it with equal parts fruit and sugar with 1/3 as much water as fruit.

If its not to your colour liking, put in some food colouring.The taste will be there.I made the simplest plum sauce the other day.Chucked a bunch of plums into the pan and then put in 2 cups sugar and 2 cups vinegar and shake of a couple of spices - ginger, allspice and then boiled it until mushy.Then I put the whole lot through a sieve to remove the pips and simmered it again till nice and thick.The nicest I've ever made. Won't ever bother with a recipe again!

Oh great, thanks so much guys. My son practically drinks sauce on his food, *blerk* so I'm hoping he will like the sauce I make. Now I just need to find enough jars hahaha. I'ts very exciting. What about the jam setting mix, do you think I should get some, because if my plums are slightly underripe they may not have enough pectin - is that right! I was just going to use good old sugar but if you recommend it, I will get some :)

i made Plum jam the other day, just used granulated sugar, it worked perfect.

I've just made plum sauce yesterday using Aunt Daisy's plum sauce (googled it) recipe which was similar to the one above and it's yummy.basically just plums, an onion,garlic sugar, some spices and vinegar and simmer for two hours.I used cherry plums from a one hundred year old plum tree.

Plum sauce turns a plain old meal of sausages into a feast for a king or queen. Happy cooking.

Hi Lillol. good for you for making your own goodies. it's a fulfilling thing to do for ourselves and our families. :-)

You won't need jam setting mix. using a couple of handfuls of slightly greenish fruit will help setting, and plum jam usually sets easily.
You don't need to add water either. cut up a couple of handfuls of the plums, or once they're in the pan, use a potato masher or your hands to squash some a bit, so the juice starts to release. and heat on a low temperature (about a 1/4 or slightly less of the full temp setting for the element) stirring often so the juice comes out of the plums - there's usually a lot of juice.

Keep stirring while you bring the plums to a simmer, then stir occasionally to prevent the mix sticking to the bottom of the pan. I use a flat ended wooden spatula, so I can run it right across the bottom of the pan to ensure the mix doesn't stick.

Once the plums are fully cooked, bring them to a faster boil, and add sugar to your preference. Most recipes have equal quantities of fruit to sugar, however I add just over 1/3rd ofthe amount of sugar, stir to dissolve it, then add more, a cup at a time, dissolving it in the mix, then tasting each time, until I get just the taste we prefer. This gives a slightly tart flavour, that is all from the plums, rather than a sugary flavour because of the sugar. It sets beautifully too.

Then, bring the mix to a fast rolling boil, stirring occasionally to stop the jam sticking to the pan, and boil it about 15 minutes then place a couple of tablespoons of jam on a small plate and pop it into the freezer or fridge to cool quickly.
Once cool, tilt the plate, if the jam runs down, cook a few minutes longer and test again. if the jam moves slightly, you're ready to bottle your jam.

If you want to take the pips out, they'll come to the top when the jam is in that fast boiling stage, and most of the flesh will be off the pips by then. Use a long handled spoon to lift them out - a long handle as the jam usually splashes easily when it's boiling quickly.
Pips. see note below about pips too. :-)

The above method works for all jams.
If you want, you can place the jam into large jars, then take out some into a smaller jar/dish when needed.

Continued.

Hi Dollydot. how cool to be able to use plums from a grand old tree like that. :-)

Thanks Julie.It sure is quite satisfying making something yummy for the family and for such a beautiful old plum tree to be producing for so many years.The last of the plums are cooked and in the freezer and fridge now and the plum sauce was tasty on grilled chicken tonight with plenty left.

So much more satisfying than what I usually do and grab bottle of sauce or a can from the supermarket shelf!