Mirabelle Plum Jam

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Mirabelle plum jam made the old-fashioned way, with no added pectin. Small golden French plums, sugar, and lemon juice, cooked to the gel stage for a small batch of three half pints.

Prep Time25

Cook Time25

Canning Time10

Total Time1

Course: Jam

Cuisine: French

Keyword: canning mirabelle plums, mirabelle jam, mirabelle plum jam, mirabelle plum jam recipe, no pectin plum jam

Servings: servings, makes 3 half-pint jars

Equipment

Ingredients

2 1/4 lbs mirabelle plums as purchased, see notes
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice fresh or bottled
3/4 cup water

Instructions

Wash the jars and keep them warm, and fill the water bath canner and set it over heat so it comes up to a boil while you make the jam. Have lids, rings, and a funnel laid out and ready.
Rinse the plums and sort out any that are soft or split. Halve each one with a paring knife and push the stone out with your thumb. Leave the skins on.
Add the pitted plums, sugar, lemon juice, and water to a wide, heavy-bottomed pot all at once. There's no need to macerate the fruit first.
Bring the pot to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly and pressing the plum halves against the side of the pot as they soften so they break down and the sugar dissolves.
Keep the jam at a hard rolling boil, stirring the whole time, until it reaches the gel stage at 220 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Expect about 15 to 20 minutes once the jam has come to a full boil, but stoves vary, so go by temperature. If you'd rather not use a thermometer, drop a spoonful onto a frozen plate, return it to the freezer for a minute, and push the edge with a fingertip. If it wrinkles and holds its shape, it's done.
Ladle the hot jam into the prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Slide a bubble tool around the inside of each jar to release trapped air, wipe the rims clean, center the lids, and apply the rings to fingertip tight.
Lower the jars into the boiling water bath canner, making sure they're covered by at least 1 inch of water, and process for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude (see notes). Turn off the heat and let the jars stand in the canner for 5 minutes before removing them.
Cool the jars undisturbed on a towel-lined counter for 12 to 24 hours, then remove the rings and check the seals before labeling and storing.

Notes

Recipe source: Follows NCHFP guidance for plum jam without added pectin.

Yield and measuring: Four half-pint containers of plums came to 2 1/4 lbs. Pitted, that was about 2 lbs and measured 5 1/2 cups packed, making 3 half pints. By weight, the ratio is 2 lbs pitted plums to 1 lb sugar.

Pectin and set: Mirabelles are freestone and a little big for a cherry pitter, so halve them and thumb out the stones. Use ripe but firm fruit, and leave the thin skins on, since they carry much of the pectin. Cooking to 220 degrees F sets it, and it firms over 24 to 48 hours.

Water: Mirabelles give up little juice, so the water keeps the pot from scorching before the fruit breaks down. It boils off before the set.

Lemon juice: Mirabelles are much lower in acid than most plums, so the lemon juice is part of what makes this safe to can, as well as flavor and set. Don't cut it.

Sugar: Half what a traditional mirabelle jam uses. Sugar isn't the preservative, so adjust to taste. It still sets at 1/4 lb per pound of prepared fruit, about 1 cup here. Below that, use a low-sugar pectin.

Batch size: Halves and doubles cleanly, and a double makes about 6 half pints with a few more minutes of boiling. Don't go past double.

Canning optional: This doesn't have to be canned. Refrigerate a few weeks, or freeze 6 months in straight-sided, freezer-safe jars with 1 inch headspace.

Altitude adjustments: Processing time for half pints in a water bath canner.

0 to 6,000 feet: 10 minutes
Above 6,000 feet: 15 minutes

Storage: Sealed jars keep 12 to 18 months in a cool, dark place. Store them rings off so a failed seal shows. Refrigerate a jar that didn't seal, and use an opened jar within 1 to 2 weeks.

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