PLUMS IN PRESERVES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 14, Issue 344, 25 January 1946, Page 21

PLUMS IN PRESERVES

by in making preserves, both sweet and savoury. They are useful, too, for combining with more expensive and less plentiful fruits, such as black currants, and all the berries. Plum and Strawberry Jam = (or Loganberry or Raspberry) Boil till soft 4lbs. plums and 2 cups of water. Press carefully through a sieve, leaving only the skins and stones. ‘Add 2 pounds of loganberries, strawberries or raspberries, to the pulp, and bring back to the boil..Then add gradually 5142lbs. of warmed sugar, and stir well over moderate heat until the sugar is properly dissolved. Bring up the heat and boil fast until the jam will set when tested on a cold plate. You can vary this jam according to the fruit available; and you can even mamage without scales. Just cover your plums with water, in the preserving pan or saucepan, and boil till soft; then strain. Bring back to boil, adding an equal quantity of berries, or less, or more, according to what you have. When the berries are cooked, too, measure all with a cup, and add the same number of cups of sugar except one (8 cups pulp, 7 cups sugar). Warm the sugar first, so that it will dissolve quickly. Stir until you are sure it is properly dissolved, and then give the jam a "rolling boil’ until it will set when tested-perhaps half an hour. The reason for straining the plum pulp first is to make the jam seem like all berries. Rich Plum Jam Boil 3lbs. firm plums in 3 breakfast cups of water till soft. Add gradually five breakfast cups of sugar (warmed). Stir till dissolved and then boil fast till jam will set when tested. Remove stones as they rise to the surface. Cool alittle before bottling. Honey in Jam Making Crush the fruit slightly and allow 34 to 1 cup honey for every cup of fruit. Add half the honey to the fruit and stir well. Allow to stand for-an hour or so. Heat rather slowly, stirring constantly; boil for 10 minutes. Then add the remainder of the honey, stir well, and boil as usual till it will set when tested. If water is used, cut down the quantity by about’ one-fifth. a Plum Chutney Six pounds of plums, 3lbs. asia. 3lbs. onions, 2lbs. sugar; lb. salt (bare), 1 level teaspoon pepper; 1 level teaspoon mustard, 3 cups vinegar, a small piece garlic cut finely, 1 dessertspoon each whole allspice and pickling spices,, 42lb. each of dates and raisins and preserved ginger (if available). Peel, core, and quarter apples, cut onions fine. Boil plums in vinegar, put through sieve. Add apples, onions, and other ingredients, stir well, and boil two hours. Have ginger chopped, and spices in a muslin bag. Remove before’ bottling. ~ Plum Sauce (with onions) Six Ibs. red plums, 3lbs. brown sugar, ‘1 tablespoon salt, 3 pints good vinegar, 1 small dessertspoon cayenne, 3 large are a splendid stand-

onions, 3 large cooking apples, 1 oz. allspice, 42 oz. cloves, ¥ oz. bruised ginger. Boil all 142 hours. Strain and bottle. Plum Sauce (without onions) Six pounds plums, 3 pints vinegar, 3 lbs. brown sugar, a handful bruised ginger, 6 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon cayenne, 1 oz. cloves. Grease the preserving pan, and boil all for two hours. Strain through colander, bring back to the boil, and bottle. Plum Sauce ‘with garlic) Four pounds of plums, 1'4}tbs. sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cloves, 1. teaspoon

ground ginger, 1 teaspoon salt, 1. teaspoon cayenne pepper, 2 pints vinegar, 2 oz. garlic. Boil all for two hours. Skim off stones. Put through sieve, and bottle airtight.