Homemade Plum Sauce

Enjoy delicious homemade plum sauce year-round with this recipe that offers both water-bath and freezer canning methods for storing.

Recipe Ingredients:

9 pounds plums*, unpeeled, pitted and sliced
1 cup water
1 to 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (optional)
1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (optional)

Cooking Directions:

1. Combine plums and water in a heavy 8 to 10-quart pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer, stirring often, until apples are soft, about 30 minutes.
2. Whirl a portion of the cooked plums at a time in a food processor or blender until smooth. Return to pan and add the sugar and cinnamon, if desired; bring to a boil.
3. Fill hot, sterilized jars with hot sauce, leaving 1/2-inch head-space. Gently run a narrow nonmetallic spatula between sauce and jar sides to release air bubbles. Wipe rims and threads of jars clean; top with scalded lids, then firmly screw on bands.
4. Place jars, slightly apart, on a rack in a boiling water canner or other deep pan half-full of hot water. Add more hot water to cover jars by 1 to 2-inches.
5. Bring water to a simmer; then cover and simmer for 15 minutes for pints, 20 minutes for quarts. Lift out jars and let cool on a towel away from drafts. Test seal of each jar by pressing lid; if it pops when pressed, there's no seal. Store unsealed sauce in the refrigerator and use within 1 month.
6. If you like, you may omit processing and ladle sauce into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-inch head-space. for pints, 1-inch head-space. for quarts. Apply lids; then freeze for up to 1 year or refrigerate for up to 1 month.

Makes about 6 pints or 3 quarts.

*Use plums such as Laroda, Nubiana or Santa Rosa.