This year the warm weather lingers on, even though November looms right at our doorstep. We’re still going for walks in short sleeves which is incredible, as this time of the year is usually rain, mists and gloom, which generally means sweater weather. But, hey, I am definitely not complaining.

The early autumn fruits are also still abundant so I managed to score some lovely plums at the marketplace and decided to make a small batch of jam. For this recipe I decided to roast the plums which gave them a super rich and deep flavor. Also, this meant that I didn’t have to hover over the stove and stir the jam, so the roasting technique is awesome for such small batches.

INGREDIENTS:

(Yields 2 jars / 0.60 EUR per jar / 1.20 EUR for all)

1 kilo of plums (1.07 EUR)

1 cup of sugar (0.13 EUR)

METHOD:

Prepare the jars and lids by washing them in hot soapy water. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Wash, core and chop up the plums, making sure to discard any suspicious looking bits. Place the chopped plums in an oven-safe heavy pot, stir in four tablespoons of sugar, cover with a lid and roast for about one hour. Stir the plums once halfway through.

After one hour stir in the remaining sugar and roast uncovered for additional 20 minutes. The jam might look quite runny, but don’t worry, it’s going to thicken as it cools down. Use an immersion blender to lightly pulse the jam, then transfer to prepared jars. Since this was such a small batch I decided to store my jam in the refrigerator, but for bigger batches and safe long-term storage definitely run the jars through hot water bath.

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Ove godine još uvijek uživamo u toplom vremenu, iako nam je studeni već pred vratima. Mi još uvijek imamo tu sreću da u šetnje idemo u kratkim rukavima, što je pravo čudo obzirom kako je inače ovo doba godine uglavnom u znaku kiše, magle i debelih džempera. Ali ja se naravno ne žalim.

Rano jesensko voće je i dalje prisutno u izobilju, tako da sam neki dan na placu uzela krasne šljive za malu turu pekmeza. Za ovaj sam se recept odlučila šljive ispeći u pećnici, što im je dalo divnu bogatu i duboku aromu. Osim toga, to je značilo da ne moram stalno lebdjeti oko štednjaka i miješati pekmez kako se kuha, pa je ovakva tehnika pečenja odlična za takve minijaturne porcije pekmeza.

SASTOJCI:

(Za 2 teglice / 4,50 kn po teglici / 9,00 kn za sve)

1 kg šljiva (8,00 kn)

1 šalica šećera (1,00 kn)

PRIPREMA:

Pripremite teglice i poklopce tako da ih dobro operete u toploj vodi sa deterdžentom, a pećnicu zagrijte na 200°C. Operite, očistite i na komadiće narežite šljive, s time da obavezno bacite sve sumnjive dijelove. Nasjeckane šljive ubacite u teški lonac koji smije u pećnicu i pomiješajte sa 4 žlice šećera. Poklopite i pecite jedan sat, s time da šljive u međuvremenu jednom promiješate.

Nakon jednog sata umiješajte preostali šećer i pecite otklopljeno još 20 minuta. Pekmez vam se možda bude činio jako rijetkim, ali budite bez brige jer će se još zgusnuti kako se bude hladio. Po želji štapnim mikserom još malo usitnite pekmez, pa preselite u pripremljene teglice. Pošto sam radila ovako malu porciju, ja sam odlučila pekmez jednostavno čuvati u hladnjaku, no ako budete radili veće ture i da budete sigurni da se pekmez neće pokvariti, svakako vam savjetujem da pune teglice još obradite u vodenoj kupelji.