Plum Butter

We had a a large plum crop this year and I made plum jam and plum butter again. Every time I make plum butter, I have to call my mom and ask her how to do it. I decided to document it this time. Since the measuring is done only when working with the pulp, it’s easy to get started. It was late, so I put the plums into my crock pot and covered them with water. I let them cook all night. The next morning, they were soft and ready to be made into plum butter. You can do this on the stove. Just dump them in a large pan, cover them with water and cook on low for about three hours.

Cooked plums and water.


I borrowed a food mill from a friend. I’m definitely getting one of these before the next fruit harvest! I just loaded the hopper with the cooked fruit and cranked the handle until it was all pushed through. The pits were separated from the pulp and I just dumped the pits and went on.

Separating the pulp from the pits.

With all of pits removed, I had 13.5 cups of pulp and water.

Pulp and water.

I added 6.5 cups of sugar and 5 teaspoons of ground cinnamon. I used a whisk to combine it and then put it in the oven at 100 degrees Centigrade. This is how it looked after one hour of cooking.

One hour in the oven.

The only thing left to do is wait. I stirred it every two to three hours. It cooked overnight and this is how it looked after about 16 hours.

16 hours in the oven.

The estimated time was 24 hours and it was definitely the case. I turned the oven up to 150 for the last three hours. It was thick and my test plate in the fridge showed that it was ready for the jars.

24 hours in the oven.

And finally in the jars. I can’t wait to try this on some of my homemade bread!

Plum Butter

Thanks for looking! If you need any clarification on the recipe, feel free to ask.