Plums, plums, plums and more plums!

The end of August is the perfect time to look out for plums.  We're lucky to have a local pick-your-own farm with oodles of gorgeous Victoria plums and at this time of year when the trees are laden,  they're at bargain prices.
Of course,  I never escape the PYO without going absolutely over-board so came away with about 6 kilos of plums.
Jam it is,  on this occasion! I'm only going to detail the recipes from now on because the method is exactly the same each time... and if it's not, I'll say so!

A vat of plums looks pretty much like any other vat of plums!  This one's Cardamom.

Plum and Cardamom Jam

A gorgeously fragrant plum jam, super-easy and a firm favourite with the family.

1.2 kg of plums
1kg of sugar
1 sachet of pectin
6-12 cardamom pods
A dash of lemon juice
A job of butter

Chop the plums up depending on how chunky you like your jam.  Pop in the sugar mixed with pectin and the cardamom.  Stir, and then let the spice infuse for a couple of hours before you start the jamming process. 

Spiced Plum Jam
A wonderful wintery plum jam with just a hint of spices. You can't go wrong!

1.2kg plums
1kg sugar
1 sachet pectin
A dash of lemon juice
A knob of butter
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Plum and Vanilla Jam

A lovely twist on "normal" plum jam

1.2kg of plums

1kg sugar

1 sachet pectin
A dash of lemon juice
A knob of butter

vanilla pod, vanilla essence or vanilla pastes, as is your wont.

Elderberry... er... Jeacle?

Gloopy, chewy, fruity
It's Elderberry Jeacle!

Is it a jam? Is it a... oh, no, I don't even know what it could be.
I have named this Concoction of Doom "Jeacle" because it's basically fruit treacle.  Not even my son says he actually likes it, although if I tell him it's fruity-honey he'll tolerate it on toast.

The idea was to make some Elderberry Jelly because I'd picked a whole load of elderberries and had already made the gin (more on that in another post). They're not exactly what I would call the most mainstream of tastes - surprisingly strong and really quite earthy.  They would easily overpower any other fruit if used in any great quantity, so it's hardly surprising that you see more elderflower concoctions than elderberry ones.

Oh, and they stain something chronic.

I won't even give you the recipe for this because it went so obviously wrong, but hey, I might experiment a bit more with elderberries this year. Fewer berries, less concentrated, maybe with an apple base.

Or maybe I won't...