Prune jam: two delicious recipes for an unusual dessert made from dried fruits.

How to choose the “right” prunes

It’s no longer news to anyone that careless dried fruit producers resort to various tricks to improve the presentation of their products. Prunes are no exception. You can often find delicious dried plums with glossy skins on store shelves that just beg to be bought. But are these dried fruits really useful? Let's look at a few basic rules for choosing prunes:

• The color of dried fruits should be black. Brown fruits indicate that this is a low-quality product.
• The skin of prunes should be matte. Very small shiny areas are allowed. Manufacturers treat especially attractive fruits that shine in the sun with fats or glycerin.
• It is better to opt for fruits from which the drupes have not been removed. This will protect you from microbes that could get inside the dried fruit after removing the pit.
• The prunes should be firm and elastic to the touch. You should not take very dry specimens or fruits that release liquid when squeezed.
• When choosing prunes, you should pay attention to their aroma. It should be pleasant, quite pronounced. Avoid fruits that smell musty.
• The taste of dried fruits is rich, sweet and sour. Avoid eating prunes that have a bitter taste.

A simple experiment will help you finally make sure that you have purchased a quality product: fill several copies of prunes with water at room temperature. After half an hour, the “correct” prunes will change color in places, but those treated with chemicals will retain the same appearance.

Recipes for making jam from dried fruits

A classic version of prune jam

Prunes, 600 grams, thoroughly washed in warm water. If it had bones, they are removed at this stage. The fruits are placed in a small saucepan and filled with water at room temperature. The liquid should cover the fruit 3 centimeters above. Place the bowl on low heat and boil the prunes until soft for 1.5-2 hours. An indicator of readiness is when the liquid has completely evaporated. Hot dried fruits are crushed. It is very convenient to use a meat grinder or blender for this. If, when punching prunes with a blender, difficulties arise due to lack of liquid, then you can add just a little hot boiled water to the working bowl.

At the same time, prepare sugar syrup from half a glass of water and 200 grams of sugar.As soon as the syrup begins to thicken, and this is after about 5-7 minutes, add chopped prunes to it. The jam will be ready after 10 minutes of cooking, with continuous stirring.

Prune and dried apricot jam

300 grams of prunes and 200 grams of dried apricots are washed, pitted if necessary, and each fruit is cut into 2-3 parts. Dried fruits are poured with water 2 fingers above the level of the fruit, and sent to the stove to boil under the lid. After 1.5 hours, add half a kilo of granulated sugar and a glass of water to the bowl. Stirring constantly, cook the mixture for another 25-30 minutes until the liquid thickens. Delicious prune and dried apricot jam is ready!

Channel “GUSTO! Taste of Inspiration" will tell you about another way to make jam from dried fruits

How to use and store prune jam

Of course, making jam from dried fruits is quite expensive, but in order to please guests, you can sometimes afford such a preparation. Prune jam is an excellent filling for waffle rolls or sweet tartlets, and also goes very well with freshly baked bread for breakfast.

Since this jam is made in small volumes, there is no point in covering it under a lid for long-term storage. Prune jam can be stored perfectly in the refrigerator for up to three months, provided that it was packaged in clean, dry jars.