Plum Jam!

[danmon_81]

Just made my first Plum Jam batch (tonnes of the stuff!)...its got a slight ginger and cinnamon edge to it...should be nice with a scone or croissant...

By the way i never realised that the seeds inside plum stones where so fragrent!! stronger than almonds!! WOW!

here's the recipe:

1.5kg plums
450ml water
1.5kg sugar (i used preserve sugar from ASDA)


Added extras:
Cinnamon stick
Stem ginger (the syrup from the jar)

- Cook the plums with the water for around 40mins till soft and pulpy (add extras here)
- add the sugar
- bring to a boil
- cook till setting point is achieved (around 15mins)
- Jar (plenty of jars needed!)

Next plum chutney!!!

P.s. its handy if your mate has an orchard!!

[LostGoddess]

Ooh now a mate with an orchard would be very handy indeed!

I'm glad your jam turned out so well Danmon. It's funny you should mention about the plum kernels.... I have a very distant memory of bashing open dozens of fruit stones and eating the seed inside when I was a child and spent the summer holidays at my grandparents farm in hungary... but anyhow I digress.. don't you have to be careful now doing that sort of thing because of the kernels containing a natural form of cyanide?

[COMPOST CORNER]

I don't think it's cyanide as such, it is vaguely related. The great myth (apparently) about cyanide is that it smells of almonds. In reality (again apparently), the bodies of those killed by cyanide smell of almonds because of the way it works on tissue.
Any pathologists/coroners out there can help?

[danmon_81]

LOL....Jam thread turns into CSI Grapevine

[Flummery]

I have plum jam recipes that advocate cracking the stones and putting some kernels in the jam - I don't actually like the taste so I don't. I'm not keen on almonds either - never tried cyanide!

[danmon_81]

I put 4 kernels in the jam during cooking and fished them out. cant say i can taste them

[Hilary B]

There is a liqueur made from (among other ingredients) peach kernels. It contains a tiny amount of cyanide. According to a story by Dorothy Sayers, the cyanide is in an oily portion that rises to the top if the bottle is left standing for a while, and if the first glass is poured without it having got 'mixed in' it just might be sufficient to kill someone.
It takes very little cyanide to smell of the stuff (it doesn't take a lot more to kill someone) and BITTER almonds do indeed contain some.