Ingredients:
  • 8 cups (~4lbs) prepared fruit, skinned and pitted (except the cherries - leave the skins on).  I used peaches, apricots, plums and cherries
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 3-1/2 cups sweetener (I used 2 cups sugar, 1-1/2 cups Splenda)
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves (I'd cut that back - or eliminate it)
  • 1/2 tsp ground allspice (Again, cut back or eliminate)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract (the real-deal). (Might bump that up to 2 tsp, next time)
  • 3 (+1/2) TBS Low/No-Sugar Pectin (the Ball brand jar of pectin called for 3 TBS, but I like a firm set)
Instructions:

  1. Blanch and peel and de-pit your plums and peaches.  Don't bother with peeling the apricots or cherries.
  2. Chop into 1/2" pieces (or whatever size you like your jam chunks to be). I ended up quartering the cherries - mostly because I wanted to make sure the jam was pit-free!
  3. Sprinkle a little lemon juice (maybe a tsp) to keep the fruit from browning while you're prepping...
  4. Mix the pectin, in a dry bowl, with appx 1 cup of sweetener.  Mix well with a fork.
  5. Dump the sweetener+pectin in with the fruit, along with the lemon juice, and mix well.
  6. Put the fruit/sweetener/pectin on the stove in a LARGE pot and cook, stirring constantly, on Medium-High 'til well-heated and well-mixed.
  7. Add the rest of your sweetener.
  8. Bring to a hard boil, stirring constantly.  Boil hard for one full minute.
  9. Remove from heat and check for "set."
  10. If it's set properly, ladle the jam into hot, sterilized half-pint jars (I use the "sterilize" + "heated dry" cycle on my dishwasher).
  11. Cap 'em and stick 'em in a canner.
  12. Process in a Water-bath for 7-10 minutes. (I'm limited to a Steam Canner - but I haven't killed anyone, yet!)
  13. Remove them and let them sit, undisturbed, overnight.
  14. Make sure the lids popped.  If one (or two) didn't, pop 'em in the fridge and use them right away...
Jam should be good, stored at room temperature for at least 6 months (I rarely have my jams last longer than that!).

Thoughts on the outcome: I think I went a little too heavy on the spices.  The cloves definitely "stand-out" from the fruit.  So I'd definitely dial-it-back next time.  It's still very good - just very spicy! (I'd have preferred to have the spices be more subtle.  "Oh well!")

Random assortment of pictures:



Nekkid Fruits!

Plums, Peaches and Apricots (cherries are hiding in the bottom)

Between the cherries and the plums,
pretty damned juicy!

Sugar+Pectin on the left.  Spicy fruit mixture on the right.

All done!!!

I am curious to know how it tastes after it's melded a bit.  Maybe I'll pop the small jar open tomorrow and stick it in the fridge.  Maybe the spices will mellow-out a bit...

It definitely IS tasty!  And a good way to dispose of a fairly large quantity of fruit!

Addendum 07/13/12: Eliminate the cloves!  They overpowered the recipe.  Even after giving it time to - ahem - "mellow" in the fridge.  


Also for some reason, this batch of jam didn't "set-up" properly.  It does thicken-up once it's put in the fridge, however. 


Overall, I'd say this is a nice "zippy" jam.  Not necessarily a "spread on your breakfast toast" jam (and I don't think it would work well on PB&J sandwiches!).  But it would work very nicely as a filling for dessert crepes, or a topping on some ice cream!

Now, onto those plums.........................