Many housewives, having collected a rich and generous harvest, begin to think and look for useful information how to prepare plums for the winter. From beautiful plums you can cook a huge number of blanks, we will focus on the most popular, easy and simple recipes that any housewife can cook ...

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Dry (dried) plum

How to dry plums? A unique prunes in the kitchen will always come in handy. Dried plums contain many vitamins, various microelements, and antioxidants. Contained in the composition useful material inhibit the growth of bacteria that cause cavities. Such useful fruit must be prepared for the winter.

In order for the plum to dry properly and well, select only the ripest fruits that fall from the tree or are ready to fall. Not all varieties are successful for drying, the most suitable are Hungarian and plums with a high content of sucrose, pectin in the composition. An important condition for obtaining good prunes is the presence of dense pulp, well-removed bones when pressed, the content of pectin and sugar in high quantities.

Healthy plums are selected, bones are removed, then the fruit must be blanched for 1-2 minutes in boiling water, then dipped in cold water and removed, allowing it to dry a little, remove excess liquid with napkins. To make the prunes shiny and dark, the plums are soaked in honey syrup (two parts of boiling water are taken for one part of honey) for 3-5 minutes.

in the photo - the plum is dried (dried) in the sun

You can dry in the open air, in the sun, or use a special dryer, gas or electric oven. To dry in the sun, spread the cream on a tray or baking sheet in a single layer, turning occasionally. Time spent on sunshine is 4-5 days, it must be brought into the room at night so that the fruit does not become damp. After the dew dries, put it outside again. After the specified time, prunes should be removed in the shade for drying for several days (usually 3-4).

When the prunes are ready, no liquid should be released when pressed, they should be elastic, not crumble in the hands. Ready-made dried fruits are usually added to meat dishes, used for baking, preparing various desserts or spicing up salads.

Freezing fruits correctly

Plums can be frozen to enjoy the natural taste in winter or cook compote according to a recipe, add a delicious dessert, bake a pie, etc. For freezing, dense varieties are used, with a high percentage of sugar content and a thick skin, where the inner seed is easily separated. The Hungarian and the Kuban legend showed excellent qualities in freezing, after thawing they retained their natural taste and shape.

The selected cream is thoroughly washed, but not overexposed in water, then dried and the bones are removed, cut into two parts. Also frozen whole, if necessary for culinary affairs in the winter. The plum is packaged in plastic bags or containers in one layer, sent to freezer.

in the photo - frozen plum

After an hour or two, they check if the cream has set and hardened, put it away for a long freeze, putting all the plums in bags, plastic containers. If you put all the available plums at once in a bag and freeze, it will be difficult to extract fruits in winter, so the fruits will easily separate from each other. The storage temperature of plums in the freezer is -16 ° ... -18 ° С, in such conditions the product is stored for up to six months.

Preparing plum juice

The recipe for making juice is very easy, it will not cause trouble for novice cooks. Plum juice retains all the beneficial elements, including insoluble pectin. To make juice from plums, take 2 kg of fresh fruit, 0.4-0.5 liters of filtered clean water and 100 grams of granulated sugar.

in the photo - plum juice

They take only ripe and overripe plums, which must be washed and pitted. Put the plum into the pan, add water, heat to a temperature of +75 ° ... +80 ° С. Remove from heat, let stand for a while to soften the plums, then wipe the fruit through a sieve or use a juicer.

In the resulting thick consistency, pour some water from the pan in which the fruits were located, add granulated sugar and put it on the stove again. We are waiting for the juice to heat up to a temperature of +85 ° C and pour it into pre-prepared containers (jars, glass bottles), roll it up. To adjust the saturation of the juice, reduce or increase the amount of water at your discretion, so you will achieve the desired consistency and sweetness.

Making delicious plum pastille and sweet marmalade

To prepare plum marshmallow, you need 1 kg of freshly picked fruits and a little vegetable oil. First, liquid puree is boiled by analogy with the recipe for making juice from plums, then it is laid out in a saucepan (but not in aluminum) and boiled until the volume is halved.

in the photo - pastille from plums

The mass of plums is cooled, laid out on baking sheets, trays, etc., having previously covered the bottom of the form with parchment, greased with oil. The mass layer should not be more than 2 cm. The plum mass packaged in forms is sent to the oven with an internal temperature of +80 ° ... + 90 ° С. An important point when cooking marshmallow, there is a slightly ajar door oven, otherwise the output product will be just baked. The approximate cooking time for the recipe in the oven is 3-4 hours.

When the puree thickens enough and stops sticking to your fingers, the plum marshmallow is ready. The finished marshmallow is taken out of the oven, cut into wide strips (along with parchment), put in glass jars and put in the refrigerator for storage.

To make marmalade from plums, you need 1 kg of plum puree and 500-600 grams of sugar. It is better to cook in a saucepan with a thick bottom, in which the mashed potatoes are laid out, put on a small fire and stir constantly until the mass stops sticking to the bottom. At this point, during the cooking process, the volume will decrease by half.

in the photo - marmalade from plums

Be sure to taste the resulting mass until the consistency of chewy candy is reached. If the puree is still quite viscous and easily eaten, boil until the desired viscosity is obtained.

Parchment is lined in prepared containers, marmalade from plums is distributed with a layer of no more than 2 cm, left to cool, dry in a dry room for a couple of days. After 2-3 days, marmalade will easily separate from parchment paper, cut into pieces, dip in sugar. Store homemade marmalade from plums in a closed dry container.

Pickled plum - add spice to your dishes

Not every housewife will find a pickled plum in the kitchen, this product is not so popular, but in vain. Plum in the marinade will not only decorate the dishes for the festive table, but also add an unusual taste to meat or side dishes.

The recipe will require 5 kg of plums, 1.5 kg of granulated sugar, 250 ml of wine vinegar, 20 gr bay leaf, 10 gr cloves. Ingredients such as ginger, cinnamon or allspice can be used in the recipe as desired.

The plum is placed in a container in small layers, sprinkling each of them with seasonings. The marinade is prepared separately - 250 ml of wine vinegar is taken, the indicated amount of granulated sugar (do not be afraid of a thick consistency), mixed, put on a flame and simmered until the ingredients are completely dissolved and a homogeneous composition is obtained. The resulting hot, almost boiling syrup is poured over plums. The plums may not completely cover, the plum juice will fill the voids after a while, so do not worry. Leave to cool for a day.

After 24 hours, the plums are carefully separated from the marinade and the procedure is repeated. Over the next three days, put on the stove, bring to a boil, then pour again and leave to cool. It is advisable to drain and boil the marinade twice a day (morning and evening), but one is allowed according to the recipe.

Five days later, the fruits are laid out in pre-prepared clean jars (necessarily sterilized), spices are added and poured with boiling marinade to the very edge of the jars, corked or rolled up. Pickled plums not only diversify festive table, but also become a delicious treat for guests.

We make jam and preserves for the whole family

Delicious plum jam will not only be a wonderful treat for tea on a frosty winter evening, but will also serve as an excellent filling for various confectionery delights, especially in combination with apples, chocolate, lemon. After harvesting plums, be sure to make a couple of jars of jam! There are quite a few jam recipes, we will focus on an unusual version, very fragrant and unsurpassed in taste, children and adults will definitely like the delicacy.

in the photo - the process of making plum jam

To prepare plum jam in chocolate, according to the recipe, take 2 kg of washed fresh plums, 1 kg of granulated sugar, 40-45 g of cocoa powder and 40 g of vanilla sugar. A plum with dense pulp is cut into two parts, the seed is removed, 0.5 kg of sugar is added, gently mixed, trying not to crush, left for 24 hours in a cool room to release the juice.

A day later, the remaining sugar is added, vanilla and cocoa powder are poured and put on low heat. With gentle movements, the plum is mixed and boiled for 50-60 minutes. For each plum variety, the cooking time may vary, and the ripeness of the fruit also affects the duration of the process - the riper, the faster it will cook. Once the plum jam is cooked, transfer the product to jars and roll up.

Plum jam is prepared using a different technology and differs from jam in its consistency, which has a jelly-like structure. For the recipe you will need 1 kg of plums, 1 kg of sugar, 2.5 g of citric acid, 125 ml of purified drinking water. The bones are removed from the plums, cut into 4 parts, placed in an enamel saucepan, poured with boiling water. Then, stirring constantly, cook for 20 minutes on a fairly low heat.

After that, they begin to add granulated sugar in small portions and cook for another 35-40 minutes, removing the resulting foam. At the end of cooking, pour in the lemon, let it boil for one minute and pour into jars to twist. Jam will differ not only in taste, but also in a beautiful iridescent color.

Unusual plum wine - a luxurious drink to the table

For plum wine, according to the recipe, 10 kg of pitted plums, 4.7 kg of granulated sugar and 1 liter of filtered water are taken. Prepared fruits cut into 2 parts are put in a glass jar (bottle), pour water, granulated sugar and leave in a warm room for 3-4 days, not forgetting to cover the neck with gauze.

in the photo - homemade plum wine

When the fermentation process begins, a water seal is installed on the bottle or a medical glove is put on in the old fashioned way, making one or two punctures in the fingers, and left for fermentation for 25-30 days.

A month later, the wort is filtered thoroughly. The pulp must be thoroughly squeezed out, the wort must be filtered with a fine sieve several times. Now the wine is poured into a clean container (preferably glass), corked and placed in a dark, cool room for further infusion. It will be possible to taste delicious plum wine in 2-3 months.

The longer the wine stands, the tastier and richer it will be. Plum wine has an incredible aroma and pleasant taste, be sure to try cooking according to the recipe, you can’t buy this in a store! Yes, and from wine from other fruits and berries, plum stands out noticeably.