plums. billions of them

[nouveaupauvre]

we have a tree in the garden and a glut. i've made crumbles, pies and tons of jam but still the damn things keep coming. cant freeze too much as we are moving and am trying to run down the freezer contents. what the hell else can i make with plums? chutney? icecream? cakes? loft insulation? any ideas welcome...

I remember the plum tree we used to have when I was a child - it was all or nothing - one year we had 210lbs, the next year we had 12 plums....

if you need ideas of what to do with them - last weekend i cut loads in half and baked them drizzled with homey in a low oven for ages, served with cream or yoghurt.delic!

Thanks nouveau

I'm looking at PacificDogwood's recipe and wondering if I could try that though I don't have an Aga type cooker. It actually sounds similar to a recipe I've got for pears/quince cooked in vinegar which is amazing. Doesn't it only cook a small amount of plums? A single layer in a pan wouldn't be that much.

neversaydie - I tried bottling some Quince last year and it didn't work which is a shame as I'd like to bottle some plums. I'm going on a food preserving course at Hackney City Farm in a few weeks which covers bottling but it'll be too late for the plums.

Prof, no, no, no single layer! My mum has special 30l ginormous pot specifically for this purpose. V thin layer of vinegar, then FILL with plums, then stand on low heat so it just comes to a simmer (eventually) for a couple of days, LOL!
ROFL @ Ruby's tree in her kitchen.

recipe in paper for them lightly stwede then sitrred cool into cream and meringue

In that case I may give it a go! I was thinking of trying it in my slow cooker as that's a massive double size one and I don't really trust my cooker to leave it on a simmer overnight.

There's a lovely Plum and Earl Grey tea ice cream recipe, plus plum and earl grey jam which I'm making this lunchtime.

Oh and a rosewater plum compote i've got my eye on too.

Think there's a lovely Nigella plum and almond cake recipe - hers uses tinned plums, but obviously those of us with trees don't need to

In the same vein as plum brandy what about plum vodka. I've just made a couple of large jars worth (2l each) for xmas

plums, sugar, vodka - job done. I didn't use too much sugar as the plums were very sweet.

thanks all! if anyone's still got a plum glut after reading all this lot have just found a big thing in gardeners world magazine (oh yes, i HAVE turned into my elderly mother) this month about preserving gluts of various fruit/veg. i did the plum ketchup thing out of it expecting it to be like chinese plum sauce you have in duck pancakes - it's not really but is rather nicer - a bit like a very posh barbecue sauce....

Just made the easiest plum tart ever. Roll out some ready-to-roll puff pastry (or your own if you're a baking type) nice and thin in a square shape and place on a baking tray. Spread generous amount of apricot jam over pastry base. cover most of pastry with halved plums. Dab a bit more apricot jam on top. If you can be bothered, make a lattice topping and brush with beaten egg (or dont bother with the lattice!). Bung in oven for 15 mins.

Sprinkle with icing sugar. Lovely jubbly. My sister has just made a yummy creme fraiche-brown sugar-calvados concoction to go with it. mmmmmm

Nummy Plum ideas! mine are just coming into season :)

I know it's not a recipe but why not give some to your neighbors or sell them even?

I like baked plums with vanilla sugar and some greek yoghurt - or you could try making prunes from them?