What is prepared from the garden plum. What to cook from plums for the winter: the best recipes for blanks

Do you have small culinary weaknesses? Having tried yellow plum jam, you will immediately get at least one! The delicate sourness of the yellow plum is very harmoniously set off by a pleasant sweetness, this is especially pronounced in the jam. The taste, color, texture of this sweet preparation is a gourmet pleasure.

Surprisingly, one of the most successful ways to make almost any jam, including plum jam, is to pour sugar on the fruit and boil it several times. It's simple, but no less delicious!

Ingredients

• plums - 2 kg
• sugar - 1.2 kg

This amount of ingredients is designed for 5 half-liter jars.

yellow plum jam recipe

We wash the plum, it is most convenient to do this through a colander.

Now we need to remove the seeds from the plums. If they are difficult to separate from the pulp, you can carefully cut the pulp with a knife, discard the bones.

If the pulp is elastic, you need to cut it into slices so that the jam is more or less uniform. Although, the option is also allowed when the plums are simply cut in half.

We put the plum slices in a heat-resistant pan, pour sugar on top and leave overnight (or for 9-10 hours) in the refrigerator. The juice will come out fairly quickly if the plum is juicy, so no additional water needs to be added.

Now we cook plum jam 2 times. The first time, boil it over very low heat for no more than 25 minutes. Please note that during the first cooking, a thick foam will appear on top of the jam, it should be carefully collected with a spoon or slotted spoon.

After 3-4 hours, boil the jam again for 20-25 minutes over low heat. After the second call, the skin of the plums becomes almost invisible in the jam, as if it dissolves in the pulp and the resulting syrup.

You can roll such jam with iron or plastic lids into half-liter sterilized jars. Hot jam rolled up in jars should be cooled slowly under a blanket. Therefore, we wrap the jars, leave them for a day, and then transfer them to the storage place. You can store this plum blank in the basement or pantry for up to 2 years.

Amazing selection for you, keep it!

Adjika with plums for the winter

Ingredients:

✓ 2 kg plums;

✓ 3 onions;

✓ 1 chili pepper (small pod);

✓ 5 pieces of bell pepper;

✓ 4 cloves of garlic;

✓ 3 tbsp. l. vinegar;

✓ 2 tbsp. l. Sahara;

✓ 1 tsp salt.

Cooking:

Sort the plums, wash and remove the pits.

Wash the bell pepper, remove the seeds and tails, and then cut into large pieces.

Wash and chop the chili pepper, and the peeled onion into large cubes.

Pass bell peppers, plums, chili peppers and onions twice through a fine sieve of a meat grinder.

Put all the vegetables in a saucepan and cook for an hour, stirring all the time.

When the mass releases juice, add salt and sugar.

Place half-liter jars on a wire rack in a cold oven, bring the temperature to 150 C and sterilize the jars for 15 minutes.

Spread hot adjika in sterile jars and roll up.

By the way, the sharpness of the workpiece can be adjusted - add more or less chili peppers.

Yellow plum tkemali sauce for the winter

Ingredients:

✓ 5 kg of yellow plum;

✓ 2 glasses of water;

✓ 1 piece chili pepper;

✓ 4 tbsp. l. Sahara;

✓ 2 tbsp. l. salt;

✓ 2 medium heads of garlic;

✓ 2 tbsp. l. hops-suneli.

Cooking:

Wash the yellow plums and separate the pulp from the pits.

Now put the plums in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil.

Remove the plums from the heat, add the peeled garlic squeezed through the garlic and chopped chili peppers.

Beat everything into a homogeneous mass with a blender.

Now return the pot to the stove and bring the sauce back to a boil.

Add all spices. Sterilize half-liter jars in the oven on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

Then fill jars with sauce and roll up.

Thick plum jam

Ingredients:

✓ 1 kg plums;

✓ 500 grams of sugar;

✓ 25 g gelfix (vegetable thickener for jelly and jam).

Cooking:

Sort the plums and wash.

Divide in half and remove the bones, then transfer to an enamel pan.

Mix sugar with gelfix and pour plums with this mixture.

Put the pot on the fire. Bring the plums to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Then, using a blender, grind everything into a homogeneous mass.

Bring to a boil again, boil for 2 minutes and turn off.

Sterilize 0.5 liter jars in boiling water or on a wire rack in the oven for 15 minutes.

Divide the jam into jars and swirl.

It is desirable to store such jam in a cool place, for example, in a cellar.

Tkemali sauce with plums and red tomatoes

Ingredients:

✓ 10 kg of red tomatoes;

✓ 1.5 kg plums;

✓ 1.5 kg of chili pepper;

✓ 350 g of garlic;

✓ 50 g of dry red pepper powder;

✓ 5 tbsp. l. coriander;

✓ 5 tbsp. l. salt;

✓ 5 tbsp. l. vinegar;

✓ 1 liter of water.

Cooking:

Wash the tomatoes and cut into quarters each.

Then put them in a saucepan, fill with water and put on fire.

Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat for 30-40 minutes. Be sure to stir.

Then rub through a sieve so that the skins do not get into the sauce.

While the tomatoes are stewing, wash the plums and remove the seeds from them.

Wash the pepper and cut into slices, and peel the garlic.

Then chop plums, peppers and garlic in a meat grinder.

Now add this mass to the mashed tomatoes, pour out the spices and mix.

Return the sauce to the heat and bring to a boil.

Cook for half an hour on minimum heat, stirring constantly, then pour in the vinegar, stir and turn off.

Place the jars on a wire rack in a cold oven, heat to 150 C and sterilize: 0.5 liter for 15 minutes, liter for 20 minutes.

Pour the finished sauce into jars and roll up.

Pickled plums without seaming

Ingredients:

✓ 500 gr plums;

✓ 5 tsp sea ​​salt;

✓ 1 tsp mustard seeds;

✓ 1 tsp fenugreek seeds;

✓ dried chili peppers to taste.

Cooking:

For this recipe, it is desirable to use hard plums - ripe, but not overripe.

Wash the plums and let them dry. Then remove the bones and cut them into thin plates.

Now put chopped plums into a deep bowl, add sea salt.

Mix gently and let stand for at least 3 hours, if you have time, you can leave it all night.

During this time, the drain will release juice, which will act as a brine.

Now, in one dry frying pan, fry a little (so that it is well dried) mustard seeds and fenugreek, and dry hot pepper pods in the other.

Let the spices cool and grind them into a powder, add to the plums and mix.

Let the dish stand for 30 minutes. During this time, sterilize liter jars in the oven for 20 minutes at 150 C.

Arrange the plums in sterile jars, cover with nylon lids and refrigerate.

In a day, the dish will be completely ready for use.

Plum jelly for the winter

Ingredients:

✓ 1 kg of plums;

✓ 1 kg of sugar;

✓ 100 ml of lemon juice;

✓ 200 gr of pectin.

Cooking:

Sort, wash under running water and dry the plums a little.

Divide each plum in half, remove the pit and cut into quarters.

Transfer the plums to a saucepan, squeeze the juice from the lemon and add to the plums. Stir.

Turn on the fire and start boiling the plums. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes over low heat.

Now add sugar, pectin, mix and cook for about 2 minutes until the sugar melts.

Remove foam and remove from heat. Pour the jelly into sterile jars and roll up.

Now jars of jelly need to be sterilized. Place hot jelly jars in boiling water for 10 minutes.

Then turn off the heat and leave them to stand in the water for another 5 minutes.

After that, remove the jars, wipe with a towel and leave to cool.

Jam "Plums in syrup"

Ingredients:

✓ 1 kg plums;

✓ 500 g of sugar;

✓ 1.5-2 glasses of water.

Cooking:

First, wash the plums and remove the pits.

If you want the plums to remain whole, remove the pits with a pencil.

Boil the syrup. To do this, pour sugar into a saucepan, fill it with water, put on fire and bring to a boil.

Then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Now pour the plums into the syrup, bring to a boil and cook for 30 minutes.

Place prepared clean jars on a wire rack in a cold oven and bring the temperature to 150 C.

Sterilize for 20 minutes and cool slightly. Pour hot jam into sterile jars and roll up.

Plum compote for the winter

Ingredients for one 3 liter jar:

✓ 500 gr plums;

✓ 350 grams of sugar;

✓ 3 liters of water.

Cooking:

Sort the plums, wash, remove the tails. Then use a pencil to remove the bones.

Pour the plums into clean three-liter jars. Plums should take up a little less than half of the jar.

Now pour boiling water into the jars so that the water covers the plums, let stand for 15 minutes.

Now pour the water from the jars into the pan. Bring water to a boil and add sugar.

Boil for a few minutes until sugar dissolves. Now pour the syrup back into all the jars equally.

Add the missing amount with boiling water. Cover jars with lids and let stand 10 minutes.

Drain the compote again into the pan (without drains), boil and pour into jars. Roll up the lids immediately.

Turn the jars upside down, wrap and leave to cool completely.

Plum fig (marshmallow)

Ingredients:

✓ 3 kg plums;

✓ ¾ cup sugar.

Cooking:

Wash the plums and remove the pits from them. Now lay the plums cut side up.

Preheat the oven to 180 C and place a baking sheet with plums in it for 20 minutes.

Take the plums out of the oven and let them cool down.

Then grind the plums with a blender until smooth.

Add sugar and mix everything again. Line a baking sheet with parchment and pour the plum mass 0.5 cm thick onto it.

If everything does not fit in one baking sheet, divide into two, or even three baking sheets.

Now, if you have a summer cottage, you can dry the fig in the sun for 3 days.

The second option: preheat the oven to 70 degrees and cook figs in it for 6-8 hours.

This time is enough for the fig to dry and become smooth.

Now cut the fig into strips and wrap them in rolls - the product is ready for use.

Plum in own juice

Ingredients for one half liter jar:

✓ 350 g plums;

✓ 200 g of sugar.

Cooking:

Wash and dry the jars. Sort the plums, wash, divide each in half and remove the seeds.

In each jar, lay the plums in layers, cut side down.

First, lay a layer of plums tightly, then cover with sugar, again a layer of plums, a layer of sugar, and so on until the neck.

Now cover the jars with lids and pasteurize for 15 minutes from the moment the water boils.

Then immediately seal the hot jars, turn upside down, cover with a blanket and leave to cool completely.

Plum ketchup

Ingredients:

✓ 1 kg plums;

✓ 2 kg of tomatoes;

✓ 250 g of onions;

✓ 1.5 st. l. salt;

✓ 200 g of sugar;

✓ 0.5 tsp pepper mixtures;

✓ 2-3 pieces of red hot pepper;

✓ 2 bay leaves;

✓ 2 tbsp. l. vinegar;

✓ 100 g of garlic;

✓ dill, cilantro, parsley, basil to taste;

✓ 5 cans of 0.5 l.

Cooking:

Wash the plums, cut in half and remove the pits.

Wash the tomatoes and pour over with boiling water. Then soak in cold water for 5 minutes and remove the skin.

Cut the tomatoes into 4 pieces. Peel the onion, wash and cut into four pieces.

Peel the garlic, and wash the red pepper and remove the tails from it.

Now mince plums, tomatoes and onions.

Pour the resulting puree into a non-stick pan and cook after boiling for two hours, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, pass greens, peppers and garlic through a fine sieve of a meat grinder.

After two hours, add a mixture of garlic, pepper and herbs to the ketchup, as well as salt, sugar, bay leaf and a mixture of peppers.

Now add vinegar, stir and cook for another 30-50 minutes until thickened.

Sterilize the jars in the oven at 150 C for 15 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf from the ketchup and pour hot into jars.

Roll up with sterile lids and wrap in a blanket.

Plum confiture

Ingredients:

✓ 1 kg of plums;

✓ 1.5 kg of sugar;

✓ 0.5 pieces of lemon;

✓ cinnamon and star anise optional.

Cooking:

For this recipe, use a well-ripened plum. Sort it, wash it and remove the bones.

Then pass the plum through a meat grinder. Now pour into a saucepan and add sugar, mix.

Put on fire and cook for 45 minutes on low heat. Now remove from heat and cool.

Wash the lemon, pour over with boiling water, cut into two halves and squeeze the juice from one.

Add lemon juice to the jam and simmer for another 20 minutes after boiling.

At this stage, you can also add spices - cinnamon sticks, star anise.

Sterilize the jars in the oven at 150 C for 15-20 minutes.

Arrange the hot confiture in jars, after removing the spices from it, roll it up.

Store plum stock in a cool place.

How to dry plums and cook prunes

Ingredients:

✓ 2 kg plums;

✓ 1 glass of burnt sugar;

✓ 1 glass of water.

Cooking:

Remove pits from ripe plums with a pencil. Now boil the water and dip the plums into it three times for a minute.

Cover the plywood sheets with paper, lay out the plums and dry for 2-3 weeks in the sun, turn over several times a day.

Bring plums into the house at night. You can also dry plums in the oven. To do this, first dry the plums for 2 days in the sun on wooden grates.

Then dry in the oven in three steps. In the first and second steps, preheat the oven to 40-50 C and place the plums in it on the grate.

Dry the plums on the first and second day for 5 hours. For the third drying, make syrup: dilute burnt sugar with water.

Dip the plums in the syrup and arrange on a baking sheet. Dry the plums a third time for 10-12 hours.

Select the finished plums, and dry the rest. Store prunes in dry jars with lids or in a dry room in wooden boxes.

Prunes can be sprinkled with bay leaves to protect the plums from insects.

plum cheese

Let's continue our research on original recipes for preparing fruits for the winter and today we will make hard cheese from plums.

Ingredients:

✓ Plums - 2 kg;

✓ Water - 300 ml;

✓ Sugar - 1400 gr.

Cooking:

First, boil the plums in a small amount of water for about 20 minutes, until the fruits become soft.

After that, we wipe the fruits through a sieve and free them from the seeds and peel.

If you intend to make cheese from one pulp of plums, then lay it on a fabric folded in 6 layers, which is stretched on the legs of a chair, and a container is placed under it to drain the juice and let it stand overnight.

The juice can be used to make jelly, but the pulp must be passed through a sieve.

Now put the pureed pulp in a large saucepan and put on low heat.

Add sugar, stir and cook the mixture for about one hour, until the mixture becomes very thick.

We continue to cook the mixture until cooked, which is determined by the trace of a wooden spoon drawn along the bottom of the pan.

Once this trail has been filled with the mixture long enough, the cheese mixture is ready.

Now we fill the banks. Remove the saucepan from the heat and spoon the plum cheese into greased molds, or into oiled cylindrical jars so that the cheese can be easily removed and served on the table.

Close the jars and store them in a cool dry place. Let me remind you that you can store such cheese for more than a year.

When it's time to remove the cheese from the plums from the can, you will need to run a table knife along the inside of the can and turn it upside down on a serving dish.

Slowly remove the jar from the cheese, shaking it gently if necessary. Cut the cheese into circles and serve on the table, carefully laying in a plate.

Plum garlic sauce

Ingredients:

✓ 300 gr plums;

✓ 50 grams of garlic;

✓ 20 gr dill;

✓ 50 gr vegetable oil;

✓ salt to taste.

Cooking:

Round blue plums work best for this sauce. However, yellow ones too, and you can also take an ordinary Hungarian, only ripe.

Wash the plum, remove the pits and stew in a small amount of water. Peel and chop the garlic, and wash and finely chop the dill.

Mix all the ingredients, add salt and vegetable oil. Blend with a blender until pureed.

Boil over low heat for 10 minutes and place in sterile jars. Pasteurize 30 minutes from the moment the water boils.

Then turn the jars over and wrap them in a blanket for 24 hours for additional sterilization.

Bon appetit!

How to Turn a Plum Harvest into Winter Plum Wealth

In winter we miss summer. We lack warmth and fruit and berry abundance… Each jar of canned fruits on a February day is like a godsend. Therefore, today, looking at the tree branches strewn with plums in their garden, housewives involuntarily wonder how many different plum goodies can be prepared for the winter in order to please their families in the cold snowy months with a piece of warm summer?

Plum is such a wonderful berry, rich in taste and color, that you can make, without repeating, dozens of different blanks. So that the entire crop from the branches moves into jars and bags, and not a single berry is offended that it grew in vain, we offer several completely different ways of harvesting for plums of different varieties and different degrees of ripeness - from unripe to overripe. So, what can be done with the harvest of plums?

Make jam, jam
Plum jam is always very tasty, it is readily used as a filling for confectionery and decoration of the most exquisite desserts. In addition, by adding apples, lemon, butter or chocolate to the plum, you can get simply masterpieces of culinary art! Therefore, having a harvest of plums in the house, it would be unforgivable not to prepare several jars of jam for the winter.

Plum jam is cooked in several ways, you just need to choose the most acceptable for yourself. And we offer an original recipe for plum jam, which will surely appeal to both children and adults with a sweet tooth.

Recipe "Plum in chocolate"
Plum - 2 kg
Sugar - 1 kg
Cocoa powder - 40 g
Vanilla sugar - 40 g

Ripe dense plums (preferably Hungarian) are cut into halves, remove the pits, cover with half (500 g) of sugar, mix gently and leave for a day so that the plum releases juice.

After a day, add the rest of the sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla sugar, mix (gently, without damaging the plum slices) and cook over low heat for 40-60 minutes. Cooking time depends on the ripeness of the fruit: the riper the plum, the faster it cooks. Pour the finished jam hot into sterilized heated jars - and cork (roll up).

You can add dark chocolate instead of cocoa during the cooking process - the recipe offered by summer residents looks like this:
Peeled plum - 1 kg
Chocolate 75% - 100 g
Sugar - 750 g
The cooking process is the same.


If you have a slow cooker or a bread machine in your kitchen, the process of making jam is even simpler: just put the products according to the recipe and set the bread machine to the “Jam” mode, and the slow cooker to the “Soup” or “Stew” mode

In the next video - wonderful recipe for jam from plums with walnuts. Perhaps he, too, can qualify for the hit of the season)

plum jam
Many housewives ask how jam differs from jam, because the ingredients are the same, and both products are similar ... In fact, there is a difference, and it is in the consistency. In jam, unlike jam, the berries are boiled in sugar syrup to a jelly-like consistency.

plum jam recipe
Plum - 1 kg
Sugar - 1 kg
Citric acid - 1/2 teaspoon
Water - 1/2 - 1 cup (depending on the juiciness of the plums)
Remove the stones, cut the plum into quarters, put in a saucepan and pour hot water over it. After boiling with continuous stirring, cook for 20 minutes over low heat. Pour sugar in small parts and cook further for 35-40 minutes, removing the foam as needed. At the very end, add citric acid, pour hot into prepared heated jars and roll up. Ready jam has a beautiful and rich color and original taste.

Prepare jam, marmalade, marshmallow
The basis for marmalade, marmalade and marshmallow will be juice puree, which is prepared according to the recipe for plum juice with pulp. In fact, all these blanks are a different degree of processing of grated plum mass, but they differ greatly in appearance and taste. And this gives a lot of imagination for the preparation of completely unique and inimitable winter delicacies.

classic plum jam recipe
Plum puree - 1 kg
Sugar - 500-600 g
Sweet puree is boiled over low heat with constant stirring until the mass is reduced by a third. Cook in a copper basin, in a stainless steel or aluminum pan. A little hint: first it is better to boil the puree without sugar, and when the mass thickens noticeably, add sugar and evaporate further until tender. If a drop of jam does not spill on the cold bottom of the saucer, the jam is ready. It is poured hot into sterilized heated jars and either immediately rolled up and sent to cool, or left under a fabric (gauze) coating for several days until a crust appears on the surface - then the jars are covered with parchment paper, tied and stored jam in this form.


And from ripe and overripe plums of sweet-fruited varieties, you can make jam without sugar - it will still be tasty, sweet and fragrant.

plum marmalade recipe
Plum puree - 1 kg
Sugar - 500-600 g
The plum puree prepared according to the recipe for juice is boiled in a bowl with a thick bottom, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon, until the puree begins to lag behind the bottom (this will happen when the mass is reduced by about half).

The finished sweet mass is laid out in molds, on dishes or on baking sheets covered with parchment paper, and left to dry. When the marmalade dries, if desired, it can be given various shapes by cutting with a knife or special notches. You can store the delicacy both in glass containers and in cardboard boxes.

Plum marshmallow recipe
Plum - 1 kg
Vegetable oil
The plum puree prepared according to the recipe for juice is placed in an enamel bowl or pan and boiled over low heat until the mass is halved.

The chilled mass should be poured onto baking sheets or any other forms covered with parchment paper and greased with vegetable oil, a layer of 1.5-2 cm and put in the oven, preheated to + 70 ° C. When the mass is compacted, it is taken out and twisted into tubes. It turns out original and tasty.


Pastila goes great with tea. Free of dyes and harmful preservatives, it will be a healthy and tasty treat for the whole family!

marinate
For some reason, pickled plums are not very popular with our hostesses. And absolutely in vain, because they are unusually tasty and can become a real highlight of your winter table. Just imagine that you serve such a non-standard and tasty side dish for meat! It is hard to imagine a more original and, mind you, cheap snack.

pickled plum recipe
Plum - 10 kg (best - Hungarian, not very ripe, dense)
Sugar - 3 kg
Wine vinegar - 0.5 l
Bay leaf - 40 g
Cloves - 20 g
Ground black pepper, ginger, cinnamon - for an amateur

The pickling process is extended for 5 days
Pour plums into any chosen container (plastic, glass, wood, porcelain) in layers in this way: plum layer - bay leaf and cloves on top, plum layer again - and spices again on top, do not cover the top layer with bay leaf and cloves.
Make a marinade from 0.5 liters of vinegar and 3 kg of sugar (don't be afraid of the density) and pour plums with this hot syrup. If they are not completely covered with marinade, it's okay - later your own juice will compensate for this.

For the next three days, 1-2 times a day (preferably 2 in the morning and evening), drain the marinade, bring to a boil and pour over the plums again. Try to handle the fruits as carefully as possible: do not mix, but shake the container a little so that the plums do not “leak”.

On the fifth day, put the pickled plums into prepared sterilized jars along with spices, bring the marinade to a boil and, filling the jars “to the eyeballs”, roll up or cork with lids. Turn the jars over onto the lids and wrap.

Plums taste amazing. And the extra marinade can be used to cook meat for barbecue! Try it - the result is worth it!

You can pickle plums in one day (hot filling) - there are also many such recipes. And in the next video - the original recipe for harvesting pickled plums for the winter ... with garlic!

Pickled plums with garlic are wonderful as a side dish for meat and as a proper appetizer. The taste is unusual, you should like it)

Make juice
Plum juice is a versatile and very useful preparation for the winter. Especially if you make it with pulp - then we will save all the valuable substances, carotene and insoluble pectin. The process of making juice is simple, and anyone, even a novice hostess, can easily cope with it.

plum juice recipe
Plum - 2 kg
Boiled water - 450 ml
Sugar - 100 g
Prepared ripe and overripe plums are pitted and, having added water, heated to +75...+80°C. After a little settling (so that the fruits soften as much as possible), the fruits are either rubbed through a sieve or passed through a juicer. You can soften the plums in another way - by holding them over the steam for 5-7 minutes.

Water is added to the resulting thick juice, in which plums were warmed, sugar (or ready-made syrup), brought to a temperature of + 85 ° C, poured into prepared jars and rolled up. If desired, the density of the juice is “regulated” with water, sweetness is also to taste. You will get either thick juice with pulp (juice puree), or liquid. In winter, you can make delicious jelly out of it!

Prepare wine, liquor
Plum liqueur is rightfully considered one of the most delicious alcoholic drinks that can be made at home. Almost all varieties of plums are suitable for its preparation, but, according to experienced plum makers, the most successful will be Hungarian, Mirabelle, Renklod, egg and Canadian plums.

An important condition for high-quality liqueur is a careful selection of fruits. Even one spoiled plum can noticeably worsen the taste of the finished drink, so the raw material for the liqueur is ripe, high-quality fruits.

Plum Wine Recipe (by alcofan)
Pitted plum - 10 kg
Sugar - 4.7 kg
Water - 1 liter

Cut the plums into halves, remove the seeds, put the processed fruits in a glass bottle, add water and sugar - and leave in a warm place for 3-4 days under a cloth (gauze). As soon as signs of fermentation appear, immediately install a water seal on the container and leave for 20-30 days for complete fermentation. Then carefully filter the wort, squeeze out the pulp, pour all the filtered liquid into prepared bottles, cork them tightly and put in a dark, cool place for aging.


After 2-3 months the wine is ready. In sealed bottles, it can be stored in a cool place (cellar) at temperatures up to +5°C for up to several years.

The next video is a cooking master class plum liqueurs at home

Dry (dry)
Dried plums are wonderful in taste and very useful preparations. Prunes, with a low calorie content, contain a large amount of vitamins, trace elements and antioxidants, and it contains one and a half times more potassium than bananas, which are very much praised on this occasion. And the most interesting and topical fact is that prunes slow down the growth of bacteria that cause tooth decay and inflammation of the gums. Well, how not to prepare such healthy dried delicacies for the whole winter?

For drying, you need to choose only fully ripe plums, when they themselves begin to fall off the branches. But it is also important to know which varieties are suitable for drying and which are not.

Varieties suitable for drying: Hungarian (Sochi, domestic, Italian and Bulskaya) and garden plums - Ekaterina, Izyum Ekik and others.
Unsuitable for drying: apricot, mirabelle, great blue, early blue, egg yellow.

When preparing for drying, it is advised to dip all selected fruits for 30 seconds in a boiling weak soda solution (15 g of baking soda per 1 liter of water) and immediately rinse in clean water, but you can not carry out such disinfection - at the choice of the hostess.

Two ways to dry plums
In the sun, outdoors. To do this, lay out the selected berries in one layer on the prepared surface - trays, baking sheets, plywood sheets and the like. For even drying, and so that the plums do not get moldy, they are regularly turned over. After 5-6 days of being in the sun, the semi-finished products are moved to the shade, where they are dried.
In dryers, electric and gas ovens. Since the plum is a juicy fruit, “forced” hot drying is carried out in 3 stages:
Plums laid out in one row on baking sheets are dried in the oven for up to 4 hours at a low (+40 ... + 45 ° C) temperature and left for 3-4 hours to cool the fruits
The second drying takes place at a temperature of +55...+60°C for 4 hours, after which the plums are again left to cool
The third drying takes place at a temperature of + 75 ° C for a longer time - for 8-10 hours. If a few minutes before its end, the temperature is raised to + 100 ° C, the prunes will acquire a beautiful shiny appearance.

Ready prunes should be pliable to the touch, soft and elastic, not dry, but not wet. The juice from the fruit should not stand out even with strong pressure.

Dried plums are served with meat and chicken, added to pastries, desserts and fruit salads.

To freeze
Frozen plums are excellent blanks for later consumption in their natural form, for winter compotes, desserts and pastries.

The best behavior in freezing (and after defrosting) is well-ripened dense plums of “not juicy” varieties with high sugar content, strong skin, separated by a stone. In specially conducted studies, the varieties Vengerka Caucasian, Kuban legend and Stanley showed the highest ability to retain juice during defrosting, so they can be especially recommended for this harvesting method.

Fruits for freezing should be washed and dried well. You can dry plums in their entirety, but if you are going to use them in winter not only for compote, but also for baking or as a dessert, it is better to make even cuts and remove the seeds - in this form they will be “prettier” after defrosting.

The prepared plum must be placed in special containers or in plastic bags, squeeze out excess air - and into the freezer! At a temperature of -18 ° C, they are perfectly stored for a year.

Bogdan Ribak expresses his opinion about frozen plums in winter in the following video clip:

We have just “run” a little on the topic of harvesting plums ... “Behind the scenes” there are still thousands of wonderful recipes for compotes and jellies, stewed and soaked plums, candied fruits, sauces and combined blanks ...

Plum is an inexhaustible object of culinary inspiration. You just try to cook something with your own hands from it - and you will forever fall in love with this sunny juicy berry, which can send you greetings from the ringing cheerful summer with bright taste and rich color in snowy January, making the winter day a little warmer.