Made from prunes with no refined sugars, stock up on summer fruit all year round

Plums are a very popular and versatile summer fruit in the kitchen. Let's find out how to keep them to have them available all year round.

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Plums are a very popular and versatile summer fruit in the kitchen. Let's find out how to keep them to have them available all year round.

Le prunes together with peaches, they are the summer fruits par excellence. Sweet and tasty, plums or plums can be eaten in their simplicity or used as an ingredient to enrich various sweet and savory recipes.

But how to keep them to be able to use them even in winter? Let's find out together.

Index

How to choose plums

Before seeing how to preserve the plums, let's find out how to choose them from the greengrocer.

We advise you to choose fruits with a fleshy and slightly soft skin; you can feel them gently and opt for those that are not too hard but not overly mature. Another feature to look at is the whitish layer; this must be there, because it protects the plum from drying out, but it must be washed off before consumption.

You can store your plums in the refrigerator and store them for two to three days, up to a week at the most.

You can enjoy plums on their own, or together with aged cheeses or as an ingredient to enrich a delicious and fresh summer salad. (Read also: Plums: calories, properties and health benefits)

How to store plums: compote

The first method for to preserve plums is to make a compote to spread on a slice of toast or on rusks, for a sweet and delicious breakfast.

To make it you have to boil the fruit, after having thoroughly washed it and deprived of the peel and stone; the extra touch is to enrich your recipe with a teaspoon of cinnamon to give a spicy and slightly acidic note.

ingredients:

1 kg of plums
4 preserving jars, heat resistant and easy to close
250 grams of raw whole cane sugar
1-2 cinnamon sticks
If necessary some cloves

Procedure:

Wash and cut the plums in half, remove the stones.
To make sure the preserving jars are really clean, it is best to rinse them briefly with boiling water.
Halve the cinnamon sticks, put half a stick each in a glass jar. If you wish, add some cloves.
Next, place the halved plums close together in the jars until the jars are almost full.
Mix the sugar with 1 liter of water in a saucepan and, if necessary, bring to a boil until it forms a sort of syrup.
Pour the syrup over the plums into glass jars until all the fruit is covered.
Close the jars tightly and in the meantime preheat the oven.
Fill the oven tray or dripping pan with 1-2 cm of water and place the glasses on it.
Place the pan directly in the oven at 75 degrees
Boil the plums for about 30 minutes, and then let them cool.

Now your plum compote is ready.

You can also prepare one compote without sugar, simply using the water and proceeding with cooking in the oven. The extra tip is to clean the plums with water and vinegar before boiling them, as this way the fruit keeps better and longer. To prepare the water and vinegar solution, simply mix one part of vinegar with ten parts of water.
Why can sugar be avoided? Plums contain pectin, that is a natural binder also useful for better preserving food. Obviously, omitting the sugar will make your plum compote less sweet, but more acidic. (Read also: 10 tips and tricks for freezing fruit and vegetables)

Store the prunes in the freezer

You can also use the freezing technique to preserve plums.

Here's how to proceed:

Cut the fruit in half and remove the stone.
You can also peel them if you wish.
Cut the plums into wedges, or into slices or cubes.
Place them on a well-spaced baking sheet.
Put the pan in the freezer until the plums are frozen; better if all night.
At this point, transfer the frozen plums to resealable plastic bags or an airtight container and place everything in the freezer.

Remember to label the containers and defrost them just before using them for your recipes. You can keep the prunes in the freezer up to about six months.

Read all our articles on jams and marmalades: