OMG Yum. That’s what I wrote on the top of the scrap piece of paper when I first concocted this bourbon soaked plums recipe.
These bourbon soaked plums area great for cocktails, on ice cream, pork or poultry in the slow cooker, or served with baked brie and crackers.
This time of year we have a glut of our French plums. The property was an old orchard for Sunsweet back in the early days of the twentieth century. French plums have been an important, if not critical fruit throughout the ages, prior to the invention of the refrigerator. Due to their excellent ability to keep for months through the winter, french plums (or prune plums) were purportedly almost as valued as salt was in those long winters with almost no fruits or vegetables. They were used for trading and as a payment for wages.
The first tree in the Americas was brought and planted right here in the Santa Clara Valley during the California Gold Rush in 1856. The French plum was the king of fruit trees and continued to be so for 150 years. Our trees were probably planted around the depression and are edging up on a hundred years, now. We lose a few each year, but still have more than we can manage. And with the stellar rains last winter, we have a bumper crop.
I love collecting great recipes to provide diversity when processing the harvest! If you need more plum, recipes, here are a few:
Ingredients for Bourbon Soaked Plums
- 3Tablespoons Water
- 1 lemon –> 1 Tablespoons of the juice plus peel from the rind
- 1/2 Cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 Cup bourbon
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla
- French plums, washed, halved longwise, and pitted
Instructions
- Peel the lemon rind
- Juice the lemon and set aside 2 tablespoons
- Add the water, lemon juice, lemon rind, sugar and cinnamon to a large sauce pan
- Simmer and stir for about one minute, until the sugar is dissolved
- Remove from the heat and add the bourbon and vanilla
- Add the plums, cut side down in the pan
- Put the pan with the plums back on the heat and simmer for about a minute, until the plums are softened.
- You can Water-bath can these if you wish. If you do, make sure that there is enough of the syrup to cover the plums. Process for 15 minutes for half pints.
