Hi Sylvia, all is not lost, simply tip the jam back into a pan and carry on boiling until you get a crinkle on a chilled saucer. You can also do the drip test from a wooden spoon and you’re looking for the last drop to just hang there from the spoon. You’ll need to re-sterilise your jars of course. Using a digital thermometer (if you have one) to reach a temperature of 105C is also another good indicator. The times are how long the recipe took me and are a guide but depending on how much liquid was boiled off from your cooked plums and how juicy your plums were, things will differ.

Hi Tanya, no if anything you’d need slightly less weight as the recipe calls for 1kg of plums that you then remove the stones from. Just use 1kg, it’s not going to matter as its such a negligible amount the difference.

That proportion of sugar to fruit should be absolutely fine.

Jumped in without reading the instructions properly, I used 1.3kg of each prepated fruit. So only used 2.35kg of sugar, it has set ok but not sure if it’s enough to preserve it ok, it seems to taste ok but maybe a bit apple saucy.

One of my favourites Shirley, so glad you like it:-)

Hi Joy, no no peeling of plums.

In reply to Camilla.

Do you nees to peel the plums first for this recipe?

So glad you like it Amber, it is a special jam:-)

Perfect set. An easy to follow recipe. Tastes delicious.

Hi Magi, the fruits need to be cooked together in the first place so I wouldn’t advise trying to add at this stage. You could try adding more sugar (to taste) to the jam in a pan and dissolving it gently and then reboiling until the jam sets on a chilled plate, drips slowly off a wooden spoon, reaches 104 – 105.5C on a digital thermometer. Perhaps not enough sugar was the issue with it not setting as plum jam should never taste sour. You could look at my Mirabelle Plum Jam for reference: https://www.fabfood4all.co.uk/mirabelle-plum-jam/ Good luck! PS: stick with my recipes, they work:-)

Aaw, that’s so wonderful to hear. So happy to have inspired you to gain a new culinary skill, it’s highly addictive isn’t it:-)

Hi Camilla,
I made this jam today, I bought a punnet of “ripen at home” plums and one large Bramley apple, then popped in to your place to see if there was a recipe and voila, 4 jars of delicious jam.
I started making jam with your “One Punnet Strawberry Jam”, last year, using my new copper pan, Having gained experience and courage I have now made quite a variety of jams having titrated down the weights as in this one.
When we were on holiday up north, our Airbnb host provided a very famous Scottish brand of jam. My husband said, “it’s good, but not as good as your jam darling” My granddaughter also loves the homemade jams.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explore a new skill, this year I explored making Rowan Jelly which is now waiting in the pantry to be given to family at Christmas.

Hi Chris, for best quality, keep in a cool, dark, dry place and use within a year but jam is safe to eat after many years as the sugar preserves it. I rarely use up my preserves within a year.

Hi Cheryl, we don’t water bath jams in Europe so the recipe is as stated.

Yay Tim, so pleased to hear that:-)

Excellent recipe.
Total success.
Delicious

Thanks Katie, you can open it as soon as it’s has cooled down, so I usually wait until the following day:-)

How long should you wait before you open a jar? Just made a batch love the taste. It really reminds me of Strawberry Jam.

Thank you Jacqui, it is a joy of a jam:-)

Hi Gemma, I have never used demerara sugar to make jam but think that the flavour would be too overpowering and spoil the taste of the jam. I would reduce the amount of fruit to suit the amount of sugar you have and just make less.

Hard to know what went wrong without being there, my only other guess would be that it wasn’t a full frothy rolling boil. I’ve never had a jam take anywhere near that long to boil.

No I stuck to the recipe as it’s my first attempt at ham making, they turned out fine just took way longer than 12mins

Did you increase the recipe quantities?

Not sure what I did wrong but it took over 45 mins on a rolling boil before it set

Hi Carrie, no don’t use any more sugar as Bramley Apples are tart apples!

Hi Jen, we don’t water bath jam in Europe and the shelf life is long. I usually say the flavour is best in the first year but a pot of unopened jam can last years in a cool, dark place. I believe water bathing is often done in the US etc but I have no knowledge of it so wouldn’t be able to advise on this.

Do you have to water bathe these to preserve it?
Or can you?
Without doing that what is the shelf life?
Thanks!!
I have a lot of plums and this recipe sounds delish!

Enjoy:-)

I love different types of cooking apple. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe……………….

Thank you, yes it’s such a pretty colour:-)

Lol Choclette, glad to have got your taste buds tickled:-)

Thank you Janice, yes plums do make delicious jam and the apple just takes it to the next level:-)

Plums have such a great flavour and make a delicious jam. Your photos look fantastic, the jam looks so tempting. Thanks for including a link to my recipe.

Gorgeous photos. They make me want to dive right in. Love plum jam, though I’ve never made it with apple before.. Luckily, I made some last month, so I can now head straight to the kitchen and have me some plum jam on toast – that’s what you’ve done to me!

Hi Crystal, yes, any sour cooking apple would do the job:-)

Hi Dawn, it’s the weight as they come off the trees. Happy jam making:-)

I love this recipe & use it every year, so thank you! But each year I can’t remember if the weights are of the fruit as it comes off the tree? Or if it’s the weight after they’ve been peeled / de-stoned? Please let me know, then I’ll see this comment each year and know!

Hi William, there is pectin the the apples. I don’t use pectin in any of my jam recipes, but use lemon juice to aid the jelling process where needed ie with low pectin fruits.

Do you add Pectin or not .