Cooking Plums 355 



this dish, rich yellow cream looks particularly well in 

 contrast with the red plum color. 



The juice may also be used in cornstarch pud- 

 dings, and in all kinds of gelatine desserts. 



Marmalade, Jam, or Plum butter. — Boil the fruit in 

 clear water until nearly done; remove from the stove 

 and put through a colander to remove the pits; then 

 rub through a sieve to make pulp fine; place pulp in 

 kettle with about half as much sugar as pulp, — or if 

 you wish to have it very rich, nearly as much sugar as 

 pulp, — and boil down to the desired thickness, stirring 

 almost constantly to prevent sticking to the kettle. 



Another recipe given in a bulletin by Professor 

 Goff is designed to make very nice plum butter out of 

 De Soto, Wyant and other freestone plums. Pare and 

 take out pits, put in granite kettle or pan and sprinkle 

 heavily with sugar, and let stand over night. In the 

 morning there will be juice enough to cook them. 

 Stir constantly while cooking and add more sugar if 

 not sweet enough. This method preserves the grain 

 of the fruit, and with plums like De Soto, makes a but- 

 ter equal or superior to peach butter. If put in glass 

 and canned, less cooking is required than if kept in 

 open jars. 



Drying. — The prunes of commerce are dried 

 plums. In some cases drying plums may be practica- 

 ble for the small household. In those states where 

 the Americana plums are largely grown, the freestone 

 varieties are selected, pared, pitted, spread on plates, 

 lightly sprinkled with sugar, and dried, first in the 

 oven, and later in the sun. They are then cooked like 

 dried peaches when wanted. 



Uncooked. — Plums of certain varieties are unsur- 

 passed served in their natural state at dessert. Besides 

 this, almost any sweet variety may be served raw with 



