Tippy came through again, and not only sent me a jar of her fabulous homemade peach Jam ala Chef Charles, her husband, but she sent along close to a pound of fresh mirabelles ‘Parfume de September’. Ooh la la, rather than make another tart, which is the classic recipe for this plum, I decided to make one large bowl, or (if it were a jar it would be 8 oz.) so it just might last a little longer. The aroma in my kitchen is currently ‘heavenly’ as the Parfume de September permeates the air and the jam begs for a piece of baguette!
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Mrs. G.,
Recipe, please? We have not done plum jam. Will try this weekend.
Did you use a cherry pitter to remove the pits?
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Just cut them in half and pulled out the pit. If there were more I would have used a pitter. The Small batch is from David Liebovitz. He is a great pastry chef and knows his way around fruit. Charlie will love his site!
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Wow! Beautiful pictures. Look at the red blush of Tippy’s fruit peeking through the nylon bag in your red-themed kitchen. Scandalous!
Spread a slab of that jam over a baguette for me! “Ooh la la” is right.
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I do plum jam - would like the recipe as well
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Mirabelle Jam
1 jar, about 8 ounces (250g)
Note that with this recipe I use less-sugar than traditional jam so it will not keep for months and months. I would imagine these proportions would work well with other sweet plums, like Reine Claudes (greengage) and prune plums, but for tart plums, like Santa Rosas, you might want to add more sugar to counterbalance the tartness. To preserve (can) the jam, you can follow the guidelines here. The recipe can easily be doubled or scaled up.Because this is a jam that isn’t mean for long-conservation, I just eyeball it when it’s ready (in Step 3). However if you’re unsure, I’ve given a couple of methods for checking for doneness. If you do the “wrinkle test,” put the plate in the freezer when you start making the jam.
1 pound (450g) mirabelle plums
2/3 cups (130g) sugar
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
optional: 1/2 to 1 teaspoon kirsch or eau-de-vie
- Pit the mirabelles.
- Put the pitted fruits in a non-reactive saucepan. Add enough water so it’s about 1/4-inch (a scant 1cm) deep in the pan. Cover and cook over medium heat, until the mirabelles are cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. (You should have about 2 cups of cooked mirabelles.)
- Add the sugar and lemon juice and continue to cook the mirabelles over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the liquid looks syrupy and thick. If you want to check it for doneness, you can turn it off and put a generous dab on a chilled plate in the freezer and check it in a few minutes, when it’s cold: if it wrinkles when you nudge it, it’s done. If using a candy thermometer, the jam will set at around 218-220ºF (103-104ºC).
- Remove from heat, add the kirsch or eau-de-vie, if using, and balance the flavor with a little bit more lemon juice, if desired. (When cool enough to taste.) Scrape the jam into a clean jar, cover, and refrigerate until ready to eat.
This recipe is from Davidlieovitz.com It is fabulous. This jam is not processed so it must be eaten.
Storage: The jam will keep in the refrigerator for at least two weeks.
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Is that one pound before or after pitting?
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No before pitting. You are so welcome. Mirabelles are so sweet, the lemon juice takes a bit of the sugar away. Jam with Lemon juice is always good! I also leave out the booze.
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Mrs. G.,
We had 1.5 lbs leftover fresh ( but wrinkled) Mirabelle Parfume de Septembre. Asked my better half to make jam with your recipe. It was a small batch so we used a small pan. Bubbling jam splashed quite a bit. We made a pint of plum jam. It tasted very good. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
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Good isn’t it? Ours went very quickly!
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In plum season I made one jar, plus overrun, of mirabelle jam. Verdict, bland. Compared to fresh plums.
Now in winter, I’m eating it with homemade biscuits and I love it. Wish I had more.
I’m used to preferring strong flavored jam with as sweet/tart kick. I love black currant, red raspberry, and apricot jams.
For things that need a punch, the mirabelle jam isn’t the ticket. But when as a substitute for honey, it’s great. Next fall I’ll make more, and just remember not to open it until November.
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@mrsg47 ,
We had so many cracked mirabelles so we made jam (non-cracked ones are for fresh eating).
We have used this pectin and like it.
It was time consuming because I had to trim the bad parts off.
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I just use a lot of sugar and let it set up with its own pectin. I had thought mirabelle jam to be bland, but it really grew on me and I came to crave it. It doesn’t have punchy flavor like black currant, raspberry, honeyberry or beauty plum that are other favorites. It has a more rich and subtle flavor. I’ve said before, but I like it on the same sorts of things that I like honey.
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I let the plums become transparent. They should be golden. I only use sugar. How did it taste with pectin?
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I can’t remember what mirabelle jam tasted like. We tend to give it away as a gift and ran out of it before we knew it.
@mrsg47 , that pic was taken early on in the process. Once it started to bubble up, I had to stir constantly and would have no time take any pic. Yes, the mixture became transparent and the temperature had to be right before we added sugar. This was a low sugar version. Use this kind of pectin helped.
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I started using that pectin because I don’t like making the flavor of many fruits with sugar. I use it regularly now.
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