OK, I have one more French plum recipe to share with you this year during plum season! This plum butter with vanilla and cinnamon is not your grandma’s apple butter.
This recipe is similar to German Pflaumenmus, but the tweak that brings this up to date is the addition of the vanilla bean, giving the plum butter a fresh, almost floral note.
If you haven’t seen my pear butter recipe, or you aren’t from Pennsylvania Dutch Country, you may not know that fruit butters have no actual butter in them. They are called fruit butters because they are cooked down to significantly reduce the water in them. When ready, they are said to spread on toast like butter.
So, you knew that? Well did you know this. Because of the cooking process, fruit butters need significantly less added sugar! A much healthier option over jams and jellies, fruit butters are basically concentrated versions of the fruit. There is a much higher ratio of natural sugar when you take all of the water out. So there’s no need for much added sugar, if at all.
Plum Butter with Vanilla and Cinnamon
Another great thing about making fruit butters is that you do NOT have to be too fussy weighing the fruit or using measuring cups. You can just make with however much fruit you actually have.
Do note, however, that if using French plums like those in our orchard, you will need to use more than a handful, since the fruit is small and the fruit to pit ratio is pretty high (I’d say 60:40)
Ingredients
- Plums
- 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, or to taste
- 1 Vanilla bean, scooped. (or 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract)
- Up to a 1/2 cup sugar, if needed. You can use white or brown sugar. (depending upon the sweetness of your fruit, and your preference.)
Instructions
Wash and pit the plums. Put the plum flesh into a slow cooker. The slow cooker will ensure that the plums will not scorch, even with their lower moisture content. (Some recipes call for skinning the plums, however if you use an immersion blender you do not need to do this)
Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours, or until soft. Plums go a little faster than pears due to their firmer flesh. However, do note that the longer you cook, the richer the flavor will be and the darker the butter will become.
After the first 4-6 hours, use an immersion blender to break down the fruit and skins. Continue cooking another 2-4 hours after blending, until desired consistency is reached.
In the final 30 minutes of cooking, add the spices and blend well. Adding them sooner could make them less potent and/or cause them to become bitter. After the final 30 minutes of cooking, run the immersion once blender again to refine and smooth the plum butter.
This recipe is suitable for water bath canning. Plums, especially when reduced, can be safely canned without the addition of any sugar. Most fruits including plums have enough acidity to be safely canned without needing to add sugar. This means that you can use as little or as much sugar in this recipe as you like and it will still be safe for canning, provided you don’t make any non-fruit additions to reduce the acidity.
You’ll want to use half-pint or pint jars for this recipe.
