You can still get plums in the grocery store and at this time of the year, they are fantastic to turn into jam. This recipe is an adaptation of my granny’s apricot jam squares, I love taking old school and putting a spin on it.
Jam making isn’t really safe for kids, but get them involved in making the biscuit squares and you will have so much fun. Oh yes, if you just want to open a tin of jam, that’s cool too!
This recipe I developed for the Expresso Morning show that I’m on, so some of the pics are from the show, all the great shots are taken by the talented Gunther Schubert, otherwise the others are mine.
Ingredients:
Plum Jam:
300g ripe plums, cut into quarters. Keep stones
300g white sugar
45ml water
Jam Squares:
375ml flour
125ml desiccated coconut
30ml Selati sugar
60ml water
1 egg
125g butter
5 ml vanilla extract
1ml salt
8 ml baking powder
Plum Jam:
Add fruit and water to a large pot (including the pips). Cook for 10 minutes until soft and mushy.
Add in all of the sugar, stirring well to prevent boiling before all sugar crystals have dissolved.
When all sugar is dissolved, bring to the boil and cook until gelling stage has been reached, this can be anything from 10 to 20 minutes of boiling.
While the jam is boiling, place a saucer in the freezer. After ten minutes of boiling the jam, take the pot off the heat. spoon a small amount of jam on the saucer from the freezer. Allow it to sit for a minute, if you run your finger through the jam, it should make a clean line and wrinkle the jam.
While the jam is boiling, the pips will rise to the surface, scoop them out and throw them away.
Allow to cool. Pour into a clean bottle.
Jam Squares:
1. Preheat oven to 180 ºC. Grease a square cake tin.
2. Sieve all dry ingredients together. Add the coconut.
3 .Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
4. Beat egg and water together and add to flour/butter mixture.
5. Mix until you have formed a tight dough. Separate the mixture in two. Put one half into the freezer.
6. Press one half into greased baking sheet and cover with a thick layer of prepared plum jam.
7. Now crumble the remaining half of dough over the jam.
8. Bake for about 20 minutes till light brown.
9. Remove from oven and cut into squares and allow to cool.
10.Serve drizzled with white chocolate and toasted almond slivers.
If you have any left, store them in an airtight container for up to three days.
