Mirabelle Jam

[lidd63]

Hello all!  I'm new to this site so I hope you will forgive me if the answer to this question is already here.  I have recently become aware of a Mirabelle tree growing wild near to me.  I have read that one can make jam from these plums but have only guesswork to guide me.  I picked about 2lb earlier.  Should I stone them, peel them?  HELP!

[lidd63]

[valmarg]

I would stone them, but wouldn't bother peeling them.

valmarg

[manicscousers]

hiya, lidd63, welcome to the site, enjoy your 'freebie' jam  ;D
when we make plum jam, we just stone them as well  :)

[Mrs Ava]

Yup, another for stoning.  I know you can leave the stones in and scoop them out whilst the mix is cooking as they become seperated from the fruit very quickly, but I would hate to leave any and then break a tooth when eating the jam.  I never peel fruit that is going into jam.  For 2Ib of fruit, weighed after stoning, you will need 2Ib sugar.

[lidd63]

Thanks so far.  So just use them like plums I guess.  I've seen these dropping by the wayside for years and never had the guts to try them.  I ate one or two earlier and they have a sweet start and a tart finish. Is this usual or are they not quite ripe?

[Mrs Ava]

I searched back Lidd as I knew these had been talked about before, and I think they are probably ready now - the end of August.  Are they falling from the tree?  All of our plums and gages are well ready, infact, some are over.  I always find plums tart near the stone.

[greyhound]

They make a lovely drink using white rum.  Same principle as sloe gin, add sugar to taste.  I think I added 4 - 6 oz to a pound of mirabelles.

[antipodes]

Mirabelles make lovely jam, usually they are dead easy to stone so yes stone them, but I always leave a few stones as I find it makes better jam. also very good in tarts and of course as eating fruit. Shake the tree a bit they will fall off when ready. I have in the past been given some and I actually preserved them in jars. Prepare jars, washed and boiled, a big pan of boiling water going (unless you have a canning setup) get a sugar syrup to a good boil, wash the fruit and put them in the syrup, when it is all very hot, jar the fruit and some syrup then lids on and a rolling boil in the water for about 20-30 minutes, until you see the mixture in the jars boiling. I found they kept excellently and we ate them over the winter with cream. yummy

[mellor]

we've found a cherry plum as well, we picked what we could and just stewed them down (great in rice pudding), they were that nice that i'm thinking of moving the tree/bush dwon to my allotment as its on a derelict plot and will never be occupied again.

[valmarg]

I always leave a few stones as I find it makes better jam.

Rather than leave stones in the fruit, it would be preferable to tie some of the removed stones in a muslin bag, and cook in with the fruit.

valmarg