Late summer is a time of excess. Baskets of squash, bowls of fresh, firm tomatoes, bins of perfectly fresh fruit. Going to the farmer’s market can be an overwhelming treat.
And while this is a wonderful time to eat fresh and cook new foods, it’s also a time to consider preserving – finding ways to save and store the plenty for the months ahead. With a little hard work, those bushels of perfect apples can be treats for now AND late winter when it feels like NOTHING is in season and warm, sunny days are an eternity away.
Today we set our sights on a late summer fruit that is EVERYWHERE right now – the Italian plum – we’ll discuss what it is, how it tastes, ways to enjoy them right now, and how to preserve them for the year to come.
Let’s discuss.
The Italian Plum
Plums are one of the oldest domesticated stone fruits in the world. They are INCREDIBLY diverse, with different varieties originating from China, the Caucasus mountain region, and Europe.
While plums in general are one of the most popular stone fruits, the majority on the market are Japanese plums – round, clingstone (meaning the fruit sticks to the center pit), sweet, and very watery. Their thick skin and long shelf-life make them better suited to shipping and mass distribution than their European counterparts. However, Italian plums are our focus today! Because despite being slightly less popular and harder to come-by, they are just about the best plums to preserve.
Italian plums are a European variety of small, ovular plums with a dark purplish-blue color and distinctive white “bloom”. They are sweet and dense, with low water but high sugar content. They are EXTREMELY freestone – the pit often falling straight out as you eat them. They are distinct from the Damson – which look VERY similar, but are clingstone and VERY tart (really only suited for cooked purposes).
Like many plums, Italian plums tend to ripen all at once. Established trees can be PROFILIC, producing over 50 lbs of fruit within a few weeks. While that’s too much for most people to eat, the good news is that they are easy to preserve.
Fresh Italian Plums
When fresh, ripe, and in season, Italian plums are an incredible treat (a bowl placed on our kitchen table is usually emptied within a day). Like most plums, they’re a great fresh snack.
However, fresh Italian plums (like I noted before) are high in sugar and low in water, so they are wonderful for baking. They’re incredible in pies or tortes – they quickly get jammy, rich, and concentrated in flavor without filling the baked good with liquid.
While there are many options for baking recipes, but I always fall back on the NYT Original Plum Torte.
Preserving Italian Plums
In our modern day and age, we are so used to the global supply chain providing us seasonal products year-round. But the truth of the matter is that for the majority of human history we have had to find ways to save foods when they’re in season so we can enjoy them the rest of the year. And there’s something special about following this tradition. There are MANY historic preservation methods, and we’ll go through the big five, discussing how well they work with Italian plums.
Method 1: Freezing
Like most fruits, you can freeze Italian plums to use at a later date. While this isn’t personally my favorite method, it’s probably the easiest to do overall. To freeze fresh italian plums, slice them in half and remove the pit. Lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and flash freeze for an hour or two before transferring to a labeled freezer safe bag.
Frozen plums are great for baking and smoothies, but not the best for defrosting and snacking on. Freezing fruit damages the cell walls and extracts additional moisture, so note that when you use them in baked goods you may need a longer bake time OR to add additional dry ingredients to catch that water (most recipes have notes about how to adjust for formerly frozen fruit).
Frozen plums will last 6-12 months when stored properly.
Method 2: Drying
Probably the most popular and best known method for Italian plums is DRYING. In fact, this ubiquity is what gives Italian plums their other name – Italian prunes.
It’s pretty simple to make prunes at home – wash and dry the plums before cutting them in half and removing the pit. Dry in a single, non-touching layer in either the oven or a dehydrator until flexible and pliable, but with absolutely no moisture or mushiness, even in the thickest part. Note that this can take a while – my small-scale dehydrator took almost 24 hours.
Homemade prunes last about 6-12 months in an airtight bag at room temperature and up to 18 months when you store that bag in the freezer (the lack of water will keep the freezer from doing funky things to the prunes).
Just remember that prunes act as a natural laxative due to their concentration of fiber, sorbitol and natural gut stimulation. So enjoy these treats responsibly.
Method 3: Jams, Jellies, and Preserves
Italian plums are high in sugar and pectin (a natural, plant-based fiber that causes jams / jellies to thicken when cooled), which makes them a natural choice for jam, jelly and preserve making.
In case you didn’t know, jams, jellies and preserves all have the same base ingredients – fruit and sugar. The primary difference between them comes from the initial form of the fruit. Jellies use strained fruit juice, resulting in a smooth, clear but firm final product. Jams start with crushed, mashed, or pureed fruit, resulting in a thick, spreadable final product with distinct pieces of fruit in the final product. Preserves start with large chunks of fruit, resulting in a chunky but spoonable final product, often with noticeable large chunks of fruit connected by a thick syrup.I think Italian plums are best suited to jams or preserves – they easily break down into a smooth, spreadable texture regardless of starting point.
As long as you follow an established, shelf-stable recipe, your properly canned plum jam will last up to two years in your pantry.
I used this recipe for Italian Plum Jam.
Method 4: Pickling
While certainly a less common preservation method, you CAN pickle Italian plums (aka use a high-acid and/or high-salt solution to extend the life of a fresh food).
Pickled plums are an incredible flavor bomb – sour, salty, tangy… They provide an incredible depth to dishes (just look at Japanese umeboshi as an example). Italian plums work well for pickling since they have a dense flesh that can hold up to the cooking process without completely falling apart – although using less ripe fruit and starting with larger pieces before pickling helps.
In the fridge, pickled plums can last a few months, but properly canned they are shelf stable for over a year.
I used this sweet and spiced recipe for Pickled Italian Plums.
Method 5: Fermentation
Last but not least, like any sugary fruit, fermentation is a great option for Italian plums.
Fermentation is a preservation method that is a little complicated and incredibly cool chemically. People often confuse pickling with fermentation, since the end products of both are tangy, funky and a bit sour. But they are mechanically different beasts. Pickling involves soaking foods in a high-acidity solution to keep microbes out, while fermentation involves using good bacteria to naturally grow lactic acid in solution, creating a stable acidic solution over time.
Noma has an interesting method for fermenting fresh plums that applies well to Italian plums – especially when perfectly ripe and not overripe. For lacto-fermented plums just soak them in a 2% salt solution and allow to ferment (fully submerged) for 2-7 days in a cool, dark space.
In the fridge, fermented plums can last up to a year.
Just remember that yeast fermenting sugars can create alcohol, so follow an established recipe and maybe avoid this method if you’re being extra cautious.
I follow the process and recipe in the 2018 Noma Guide to Fermentation, which is an EXCELLENT resource for those getting into the world of fermentation.
I can say that after preserving over 45 pounds of Italian plums, I still love them and look forward to enjoying my preserved treats in months to come.
Please let me know your favorite methods for preserving Italian plums and what bulk preservation experiment you’d like to see me undertake next!
Cara Can Cook 