Plum Butter (Powidl)

Hi all:

My friend Margaret, the one I spend vast amounts of time discussing recipes with, also wanted to make plum butter this summer.  She is Polish, so plum butter factors in largely with her culture.  We Austrians also love our plums and I remember many a recipe that my mom made growing up, that used "Powidl" (a very thick plum jam. Pronounced Poe-Veedal).

It would appear, that I am trying to emulate my friend Margaret.  She made preserved, chopped garlic for the freezer, I made preserved, chopped garlic for the freezer.  She stated she wanted to make plum butter, I decided I had to make plum butter. You get the picture........ I have to say though, she certainly does have some very good ideas!

Well, this summer I brought home about 2 pounds of freshly picked purple plums and they were starting to go soft, so I thought I better jump on the "Margaret band wagon" and make my own Powidl.

This is what I did:

Powidl (plum butter)

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2 pounds purple plums - washed, take out pit and cut into small pieces

Approx. 1/2 c. - 3/4 c. White sugar 

Small amount of water (about 1 T. Perhaps. Not much more)

(This made 2 small jars of plum butter)

I googled plum butter on the Internet and saw that some people made theirs in a slow cooker.  Brilliant I thought!!  Just throw everything in, and cook on low overnight.  Well, I accidentally added too much water so the overnight cooking turned into overnight plus another 8 hours, and it still wasn't reduced.  I then put the mixture into a saucepan and simmered it on a slow boil for about 1 hour, stirring constantly, until it reduced down to a thick paste. I then put the plum butter into washed jars with lids and refrigerated them. Use them fairly soon after opening. I am not sure how long these will last since they are not processed in boiling water, but since I was giving 1 jar away, I knew I could get through the other jar fairly quickly.

Moral of the story: don't add too much water. A lot of water will come out of the plums as they cook. Also, I think I would just make this in a saucepan next time, where you can control the temperature and increase it as needed.  Just keep stirring, so it doesn't burn.

If you were making a large quantity and storing it for a long time, I would definitely sterilize the jars as well and process them in a boiling bath. You can never be too safe.

Try this plum butter and see how you like it.  It is not too sweet and is a nice change from the everyday.

Happy plumming!

Rosie