Spiced Golden Plum Jam Recipe

Happy day my friends!  I hope all is well in your world. I have a delicious Golden Plum Jam Recipe, spiced with cardamom, cinnamon & ginger for you today. Perfect plum jam recipe for canning, morning toast or biscuit – makes a wonderful hostess gift idea.

Several years ago I began making and canning jams and preserves and it’s become one of those seasonal traditions for me. In the early summer months, it’s blueberry and peach jam. In the late summer and fall months, I turn my preserving and canning attentions to apples, pears and plum jam recipes.

One of my all-time favorite fruits to make jams and preserves from are golden or yellow plums. The brightness of both the color and taste of these fruits make especially lovely preserves.

Golden Plum Jam in a cup and on a spoon.

Not only does my family relish having homemade preserves for their toast, but these small jars of deliciousness make great gifts. I like to attach a little spoon when I gift these jars of spiced plum jam.

Golden Plum Jam Recipe: Collection of spoons for gifting jars of jam

When I go to antique stores I am always on the lookout for old spoons so that I have a little stash of them for gifting or for my own use.

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I have a lovely collection of cookbooks that I love to peruse for inspiration prior to my canning foray. Nothing comes closer to sheer bliss than when I’m sitting in my comfy kitchen chair (when Flora’s not in it, that is) with a cup of tea and a stack of cookbooks to look through.

For this Spiced Plum Jam recipe, I used the Cardamom Plum Jam recipe from Liana Krissoff’s book Canning for a New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavors for the Modern Pantry as the basis, but then put my own riff on it by adding a few more spices.

Golden Plum Jam Recipe: canning cookbooks

While plums are technically a ‘summer’ fruit, the addition of the warm spices of cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger in this golden plum (or yellow plum) jam recipe seem to make it more of a fall preserve, perfect for your toast or biscuit with your cup of coffee or tea on a cool-ish morning.

If you don’t have a whole lot of experience canning, but want to dip your toe into the preserving waters, then simple jams like this are the way to go. You do need some basic tools (canning jars, jar lifter, etc…), but beyond that, water bath canning is a very straightforward process.

Pop on over here for a complete discussion on Jam Making Basics. This Jam Making Basics post discusses the basic ingredients for all jellied fruit and why they are important, basic equipment, and the differences between Jam, Jelly, Preserves, Conserves, and Marmalade.

If you are looking for something even easier, pop on over and give this Easy Plum Jam recipe a try. In addition to the recipe, this post includes a list of flavorings if you want to put your own spin on a jam.

By all means, if you do decide to try canning jams for the first time, your very first purchase should be The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. Even if I think I could make the recipe in my sleep, I double-check myself against the Ball Book…that whole botulism thing. If you are new to canning, it should be your very first purchase. My cookbook library inventory recently expanded with the addition of The All New Ball Book Of Canning And Preserving: Over 350 of the Best Canned, Jammed, Pickled, and Preserved Recipes!

Here are the jars I used, but mine have the black lids. I don’t see that they sell the black lids anymore!

Golden Plum Jam in a cup and on a spoon.

Spiced Golden Plum Jam Recipe

Yield: 5 half-pint jars
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Canning Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes

A delicately spiced plum jam

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds plums, any type but I prefer golden
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 tablespoons strained fresh lime juice
  • 1/2 " slice of ginger, cut in half
  • 6 green cardamom pods, crushed (1/2 teaspoon ground). If using pods/seeds place in tea infuser or wrap in a square of cheesecloth.
  • 2 cinnamon sticks

Instructions

  1. Prepare canner, jars and lids. See The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving for instruction and additional reference.
  2. Place a saucer with 3 spoons on it in your freezer
  3. Wash, pit and coarsely chop the plums
  4. Put plums and sugar in a wide, 6-8 quart preserving pan or stainless steel saucepan.
  5. Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently, then continue to cook for 5 minutes.
  6. Pour into a colander set over a large bowl and stir the plums gently to drain off the juice.
  7. Return the juice to the pan, along with ginger slices, cardamom and cinnamon and bring to a boil over high heat.
  8. Boil, stirring occasionally until the syrup is reduced and thick, about 10 minutes.
  9. Return the plum and any accumulated juice to the pan, along with the lime juice and bring to a simmer.
  10. Simmer, stirring frequently, until a small dab of the jam spooned onto the cold plate and set in the freezer for a minute becomes somewhat firm (it will not gel), about 15 minutes.
  11. Remove from heat.
  12. Remove cinnamon sticks, ginger and (if using) bag with cardamom seeds.
  13. Spoon your jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
  14. Remove air bubbles and wipe rim.
  15. Center lid on jar
  16. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight.
  17. Place jars in canner, making sure they are completely covered with water
  18. Cover pot and bring to a boil
  19. Boil for 10 minutes
  20. Turn heat off, remove lid and let sit for 5 minutes
  21. Carefully remove jars with jar lifter and place on a rack where they can be undisturbed for 24 hours.
  22. Refrigerate any jars if their lids don't pop down.

Notes

This recipe assumes some knowledge of proper and safe canning techniques. Please see the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving for guidance.

Notes

Adapted from Canning for a New Generation by Liana Krissoff

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 40 ounces Serving Size: 1 ounce
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 66Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 9mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 1gSugar: 15gProtein: 0g

Did you make this recipe?

It would be great if you could take a minute and leave a comment below, as well as how many stars you think it deserves. Help other readers by asking any questions you have or sharing any modifications to the recipe. I'd love to hear how you served it! If you are on Instagram, then tag @nourishandnestle on Instagram and hashtag it #nourishandnestle! Many Thanks

Golden Plum Jam Recipe

If you would like to add this Spiced Plum Jam recipe to your canning repertoire, then please bookmark this page or pin the following image for your future reference:

Pin for Golden Plum Jam Recipe: Perfect for morning toast or biscuit, and hostess, housewarming or holiday gifting.

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Until next time…

Hugs,


Spiced Golden Plum Jam Recipe

Thanks for making my day by SHARING!!

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35 Comments

    1. Hi Tammy, I do hope you and your crew enjoy. It is really a lovely, faintly spiced delicious treat. Do you have snow yet? Joking…but just a little.

      Have a great day!

      Hugs, Lynn

      1. Greetings from Oregon. Found your recipe on Pinterest while searching for golden plum recipes after my sister surprised me with a box of slightly overripe plums from her tree. Your Spiced Golden Plum Jam is AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS!! Next year I’ll make sure to get twice the amount of plums so I can make extra for Christmas gifts. Thank you. Christine

        1. Oh Christine…you just made my day! Like you, I love that jam and in fact, need to see if I can find some golden plums soon! We just moved, so my canning has really suffered this summer.

          Do tell…how do you like to enjoy this jam? I love it on scones!

          Hope you have enjoyed your Oregon summer! I imagine it is lovely out there this time of the year!

          Hugs,

          Lynn

    2. This is a great recipe! Straight forward directions made it fun to make! I ended up making three batches! I love the flavor and how it turned out! I may have even used a little more ginger! Delicious!

      1. Oh Kat,

        I am just thrilled to hear that you loved it so much! It is one of our favorite jams as well. Will you be giving them as gifts?

  1. I love the idea of adding a vintage spoon as a gift!! Very clever! There is nothing better than homemade jams on toast in the morning and this recipe sounds amazing! Thanks.

    1. Hi Sherry! The only problem with collecting vintage spoons as gifts is that in reality, I’m having a hard time parting with them…I keep them in an old baby cup on my hutch and really love looking at them. We’ll see how many actually leave my home this Christmas!

      Many hugs to you today…I know you are crazy busy.

      Lynn

  2. Hi Lynn! This sounds absolutely delish! I’m a jam/preserves kinda girl. I love to put them on toast, or English muffins, or bagels…. This makes a great gift & I love the idea of including a pretty spoon with the jar. Great idea!
    ~Mindy

    1. Good Morning Mindy and I hope your day is off to a good start. I’ve gone almost gluten free and one of the things i miss most is jam on toast or english muffin! And the GF bread, it just doesn’t do it for me most of the time. So I know how much you enjoy that simple but delightful little treat. Enjoy!

      Thanks for coming by today and wishing you a lovely week ahead.

      Hugs, Lynn

    1. Hey Liz…it’s quite tasty.Give it a try! And…thanks for your restaurant suggestions. We ended up at Al’s Burger Shack and I had a burger with the bacon caramelized onion jam and blue cheese! So good.

      Have a great day.

      Lynn

    1. Thanks Sarah! My challenge is parting with them…I get to love these little spoons. But I’m accumulating quite a stash, so I really do need to do a better job of gifting them.

      Have a great weekend.

      Hugs, LYnn

  3. Your recipe looks delicious, but I have a question. The recipe does not say to pit and peel the plums. Are you actually leaving the pits in the jam? Are the plum skins soft enough to leave in as well?

    1. Hi Sandra,

      Good question…obviously I need to go in and make some clarifications! Do pit the plums, but I leave the plum skin on.

      Happy Canning my friend!

      Hugs,

      Lynn

  4. Hi! In your ingredient list you have the ginger listed as “1/2 slice of ginger, cut in half “. Of course I assume you mean fresh ginger root, but how much is a half slice? I can buy ginger-root from very small roots up to 7″ or 8″ long and 4” or so in width. Approximately how much is a 1/2 slice of ginger? Thanks!

  5. Hi Lynn, BTW I love your name, I have another friend with it! Sounds amazing yum Jams! A question for you, I got the purple plums picked then hurt my back. I couldn’t waste them, so I juiced and bottled them. Could I make a sort of jelly with this recipe as the plums are long gone, just the pure juice remains?
    Regards,
    Judy

    1. Aw thanks Judy! It is a good name!

      I think it’d be difficult to make this jam recipe with your plum juice, but you could definitely make plum jelly. You would need to add pectin since you don’t have the plum skins, but it’s completely doable.

      I have seen several recipes for making jelly with juice, but haven’t tried it myself.

      Wishing you a wonderful day my friend and hope your back is on the mend!

      Hugs,

      Lynn

  6. I made a batch of your plum jam and boy was it a hit! In fact, it was so good that a friend and I are going to make a bunch and give jars as Christmas presents . . . .along with apple butter and pear butter and your cranberry conserve! Yes, the fruit trees did exceptionally well this year. Have you ever tried making the plum jam in a crock pot?

    I just love your blog! Lori

    1. Hey there Lori! Girlfriend, you just made my day! I love to hear that my friends and readers enjoy these recipes as much as we do! And I so appreciate you taking a minute to chime in! Means the world to me.

      To answer your question, no, I have not tried the jam in a crock pot, but I can’t think that it would be a problem. If you get around to trying it before I do, let me know!

      Have a wonderful weekend my friend,

      Hugs, Lynn

  7. I’m doing this recipe right but now I’m so confused–there’s no direction about what to do with the cinnamon sticks, ginger chunks, and cardamom pieces during the process. Surely you don’t just leave them to bite into in a bite of jam?

    1. You are so right Annie! Somehow a step was left out. Remove the spices before you put the jam in the jars. Thanks for pointing it out and I’ll pop over and fix that right now.

      Sorry for any frustration!

      Hugs,

      Lynn

  8. I have an abundance of golden plums, and this jam seems a good recipe. However, I am perplexed by the method of preparing the fruit. Some of the plums are tiny and others are big. So I am wondering how to prep the fruit. DO I pit and skin it first? Or just toss them in whole, all 4 lbs, and then there will be some loss from skins and pits? Any insight would be helpful.

    1. Amanda,

      I just roughly chopped the fruit and left the skin on, it will all cook down to a jammy consistency by the end of the process. Do remove the pits while chopping…toss them aside as you won’t need them. I see in reviewing the recipe that I didn’t make that very clear…I will go back in and clarify that.

      Happy Canning, my friend.

      Hugs,

      Lynn

  9. I was just gifted with a lot of golden plums – this recipe sounds delicious – will try making a double batch.

  10. I just made this jam from plums I had in the freezer from this summer. It tastes delicious, but the consistency is quite runny. I simmered it for a long time, and did the frozen plate test, but I wasn’t really sure what “somewhat firm” is supposed to feel like haha. Is this recipe supposed to set quite firmly?

    1. Hi Melissa,

      While it isn’t as thick and set as a jelly, it should not be dripping when you spread it…it should be more a of a fruit spread consistency. Does that make sense?

  11. I made the spiced golden plum jam last night. I did not have fresh limes, so I used 2 tablespoons of bottled Key Lime Juice. (bottle says that is equivalent of 1 key lime) It tastes mostly of lime. Still good, but I can’t taste the plum. Next time I will get a fresh lime before I start.

    1. Hmmm…I have never used key lime juice in my recipes. My understanding is that they are more aromatic and tarter than regular limes, so that may be the issue. Let me know if you try again.

      Hugs,

      Lynn

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