German-style plum jam

It seems the raining season has arrived in Sydney now. After beautiful sunny autumn days which we spent mostly at the beach it's time for staying indoors and cooking jam. Plums are in abundance right now and there is a plum jam in Germany I always loved since it isn't too sweet with lots of spices and because it's cooked for so long it develops a very dense and velvety texture. There are many colloquial names for that plum jam in Germany but the most common names are Pfluemli, Powidl oder Zwetchgen- bzw Pflaumenmus. This particular plum jam is also used as a filling for the Austrian Germknoedel which you will definitely come across and love when skiing in Austria.

Recipe:

2kg sugar or blood plums, halved and pitted
1 kg sugar
6 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
3 sprigs thyme
juice of 1/2 lemon

1. Put plums and sugar in a large saucepan. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
2. Add spices and thyme to saucepan and simmer gently over medium-low heat for 4-5 hours or until thick and syrupy. You only want to see the occasional blub while simmering.
3. Scoop out spices and put aside. Blend plums to a thick puree, add spices and lemon juice and simmer on low, stirring occasionally, for another 2 hours until very thick and dark.
4. Discard spices and fill into sterilised jam jars.

The jam is beautiful on sourdough rolls, hot cross buns or as we enjoyed it at our Easter brunch on a yeast plait with poppy seed. The recipe for the plait is here.

Plum cake with streusel

To be honest I am still confused sometimes with what is in season when. Plums are already turning up at the grocery stores and I thought it's still summer.

Well, the weather has been more on the autumn side anyway so I guess it makes sense in a way to have plums now. I love plums and although there is a wide variety available here in Sydney I do miss what we call "Zwetschge" in Germany. It translates into damson plum and I have seen it at some farmers markets but only rarely. The damson (fruit) is identified by its dark blue skin, oval shape (though slightly pointed at one end) and smooth-textured yellow flesh.
In Germany we use it to make the very popular Zwetschgendatschi (plum cake with yeast dough)
and Pflaumenmus (very dark plum jam) which then gets used in Germknoedel (steamed sweet dumplings). I'll definetely be on the hunt for damsons plums next time I go to the market.

Never mind, I love them all and made my first plum cake for this season on the weekend.
To give it a bit of a twist I added thyme to it and that goes very well together. Streusel are
a must on a German-style cake and so good paired with sour plums.

From this...

to this!

Recipe for plum cake:

850 g plums
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon picked thyme leaves
100 g sugar

200 g butter, softened
200 g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
150 g wholemeal flour
100 g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Streusel:
100 g brown sugar
150 g plain flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
80 g butter, melted

1. Cut plums into small wedges. Place plums, lemon juice, thyme and sugar in a saucepan and let sit for 20 minutes. Over medium-low heat cook plums for 20 minutes until plums are soft and sauce has slightly thickened. Set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile make cake batter. Whisk butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add vanilla and beat until combined. Mix together both flours and baking powder and add to butter-sugar mix. Whisk until thoroughly combined.
3.  For the streusel, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon. Add melted butter in a thin stream then use a fork to clump batter together.
4. Line a deep baking tray (32 x 25 cm) with baking paper and spread batter evenly. Pour plum sauce over and spread evenly.
5. Sprinkle with streusel and bake in preheated oven for 45 min or until cooked and the streusel are lightly golden.
Let cool a little before slicing into pieces. Serve with whipped cream or Greek-style yoghurt.