Plumazing

For those of you who have never had the fascinating experience of making plum jam, I took pictures tonight as I made a batch after the kids went to bed (jam requires your undivided attention, which doesn't work when kids are awake, especially babies!)

In my post earlier today you saw what the plums look like fresh off the tree-- they are almost sky blue. They lose some of that blue when you wash them, as seen below. You can also see that the inside flesh is pale yellow.


Then, as you start to cook them, the magic happens. Something in the skins starts giving off this brilliant red color and the mixture gets redder by the minute.


When you add the sugar, the color deepens to a beautiful garnet hue:


And the finished jam is so dark you would never guess it came from sky blue and pale yellow fruit.


What fun! I love to make jam.