Greengage Recipes please

[susieq100]

Greengage jam is sublime. I too have a glut and have made 3 batches so far. Good Xmas pressies! My biggest problem is finding enough jars to put all the preserves in!

[BumbleB]

Coo thanks, will give these a try.

[smallblueplanet]

Wild plum sweetmeats

A variation on quince paste or membrillo, eaten as a dessert or sweetmeat (often with cheese). Its success depends on using a sharp, strongly flavoured fruit such as sloe or bullace. So says my recipe book, so you could try it with your gages?

Wild plum sweetmeats

3lb wild plums or sloes
10 fl oz water
1lb 4oz sugar
castor sugar for decorating

Gently cook the plums with water until completely soft.
Push the fruit through a sieve and return to the pan with the sugar.
Cook, stirring often until it forms a thick puree.
Keep simmering and the fruit paste will get thicker and thicker (spitting and bubbling dramatically!).
When it comes away from the sides of the pan, pour it into a shallow pan to cool and set.
Cut into small squares and roll them in sugar.
Store in an airtight container.

[Flummery]

I once made pickled plums. They were gorgeous - just the job with cheese and/or cold meat. You could easily substitute greengages.

Choose firm fruits.

1pt white malt or white wine vinegar.
Mixed pickling spices (or buy Sarsons white pickling vinegar like I do!)
2lb greengages
1.5 - 2 lb sugar.

Bring the vinegar to the boil and simmer with pickling spices for 3 - 4 mins - or longer if a stronger taste is required.
Strain and cool.
Wash and pat dry fruits and put into cold spiced vinegar ans simmer over a low heat till just tender but unbroken.
Lift out with slotted spoon and pack into hot sterilised jard. Add sugar to vinegar and stir over a low heat till dissolved then boil steadily until a syrup consistency id achieved. (The lower amount of sugar for very sweet fruits, the higher amount if they're a bit sharp)
Pour over plums, put on lids and seal shut.

You can use gooseberries, cherries, any type of plum, the only thing is that you have to remember the stone is still in! If you stone them you lose the 'whole fruit' look of the thing.

[Hilary B]

Jam is easy, if you take the stones OUT, then put them in a muslin and include in the pre-sugar cooking (I usually just halve plums, leaving the stones in the halves, they DO float out once you've added the sugar, but you always miss a few when you fish them out).

[BumbleB]

Thanks blackkitty. We will try some of these as we have visitors most of this week. I was wondering about any preserving recipes. Has anyone got any trried and trusted methods?

[blackkitty]

Any plum recipes should work. Greengages make fanatstic crumble. If you cut them in half and remove the stones they can be frozen that way and then just tip into a dish spread crumble mixture on top and bake till done. I line a cake tin with a little brown sugar and then a layer of plums and then top with a sponge cake mixture, turn out to serve like a pineapple upside down cake. Hugh Fearlessly Eats in all makes a bread and butter pudding with plums in it which works very well with gages as well.

[BumbleB]

Hi, posted on the fruit thread. We have unexpected discovered a huge glut of greengages. OH says at least 5 large saucepans.

Any ideas for recipes or preserving really appreciated.