Damson Plum Leftovers

I’ve just finished bottling up this years’ brew of Damson Plum Liqueur. It is ruby red beautiful, and pairs beautifully with chocolate for dessert. Anyway, I have two, gallon size zip lock bags of the Damson plums that were used in the creation of the liqueur. They (the plums) have been steeped in everclear and sugar for several months. In addition, the plums still have their skins, stems and seeds intact. I hate to throw them away. Is there anyone who has some creative thoughts on how to get some use out of these plums? Last year I tried making bread with them. The process of de-seeding, skinning and stemming however was extremely tedious. Any ideas about that? The bread, by the way was not that special. I’m waiting! Thanks.

Could you make a plum butter? You could try pressing the fruit through a food mill and cooking it down with more sugar. I don't know how pits will behave in a mill, but it might be worth a try...

razbry wrote:I’ve just finished bottling up this years’ brew of Damson Plum Liqueur. It is ruby red beautiful, and pairs beautifully with chocolate for dessert. Anyway, I have two, gallon size zip lock bags of the Damson plums that were used in the creation of the liqueur. They (the plums) have been steeped in everclear and sugar for several months. In addition, the plums still have their skins, stems and seeds intact. I hate to throw them away. Is there anyone who has some creative thoughts on how to get some use out of these plums? Last year I tried making bread with them. The process of de-seeding, skinning and stemming however was extremely tedious. Any ideas about that? The bread, by the way was not that special. I’m waiting! Thanks.

cook them with a little bit of water with some more sugar, then you can remove the seeds directly over a blender and not worry about being to thorough, because you're just going to puree, strain, and put into an ice cream machine for what I bet would be a terrific, palate-cleansing sorbet. (or make a granita if you don't have a machine)

Hi,

Food mills and seeds are not always a good combination. Years ago I made Concord Grape ketchup from the pulp and skins leftover from making jelly and jam. I used a food mill that did a nice job of grinding the seeds enough that little chips passed through. This was not immediately obvious until I tried the finished product a bit gritty.

I don't know how plums will behave with their stone. I would do a small batch to see if it doesn't create this chip issue.

I did see a recipe for Hungarian plum dumplings, which could be great.

You keep the stones in, then stew to make a compote. Finding stones in compote isn't unexpected. It is also a classic dish in many Central European Christmas dinners.

Regards,

I did try the food mill last year...it didn't work very well. The sorbet sounds interesting, but no sorbet maker in my house. Actually, all the thoughts so far sound interesting. Keep them coming!

razbry wrote:I did try the food mill last year...it didn't work very well. The sorbet sounds interesting, but no sorbet maker in my house. Actually, all the thoughts so far sound interesting. Keep them coming!

You can make a delicious granita without any equipment. Just put the liquid in a casserole dish in the freezer. After 45 min or so, a little ice will start to form, break it up with a fork, and return the dish to the freezer. Keep breaking up the newly formed ice every 30 minutes or so, and eventually - when there's no more liquid - you've got granita.

Seems like a nice problem to have.

Damson plum jam is my favorite jam in the world. Most years I make it, and I just follow the Sure Jell pectin instructions for plum jam. You do need to pit the plums--and I know they're small--and remove the stems, but no peeling is necessary. It's pretty easy once you've removed the pits. I do it with a paring knife and wear latex gloves so my fingers don't turn purple. Then I chop the halves in the food processor, cook with sugar, add the pectin, etc. and pack in sterile jars. The granita sounds delicious too.

Let us know what you end up doing!

Where does one find Damson plums around here?

Binko wrote:Where does one find Damson plums around here?

The last few years I've gotten them at the Evanston farmers market in late August or very early September. Pre-Safeway-purchase of Dominick's, I used to find them there sometimes.