“If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him… the people who give you their food give you their heart.” -Cesar Chavez
I get a lot of pleasure from sharing food. There is something wonderful about watching people’s faces light up when they bite into something you’ve made.
These plum bars are a case in point. They are beautiful and rich and luscious–oozing with gooey plum goodness. They’re sure to elicit an over-the-moon reaction from anyone lucky enough to be on your food gift list. They’re also a great way to hang on to plum season just a bit longer and make use of some of the late season plums that you can still find in the market.
The recipe says that you get twelve bars but I got sixteen. Juliet and I couldn’t possibly eat sixteen plum bars…although Juliet eagerly volunteered to give it her best try. (The sweet little dog is a trooper.) So, this surfeit of sweet delights turned out to be a great gift from the heart for my neighbors.
Here is the recipe.
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 1/2 pounds black or purple plums (pits removed and roughly chopped--about 6 cups)
- 1 1/2 C. plus 1/3 C. granulated sugar
- 1/4 C. cornstarch
- 2 t. vanilla extract
- 3 C. old-fashioned oats
- 2 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
- 3/4 C. whole-wheat flour
- 1 1/2 C. light brown sugar
- 1 t. baking powder
- 1 t. coarse kosher salt
- 1 t. ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 C. unsalted butter (melted)
Instructions
- Put a small plate in the refrigerator. You will use the cold plate to test the jam later in this recipe.
- Combine chopped plums and 1 1/2 cups of sugar in a large pot. Heat the plums over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Cook the plums and sugar until the plums release their juices and become very tender. This will take 12 to 15 minutes.
- Puree the cooked plum mixture with an immersion blender or in a regular blender until almost smooth. Be careful here; you are working with very hot liquids. You want a little texture in your jam. Return the puree to the pot (if you didn't use the immersion blender) and continue to cook at medium to low heat until the mixture thickens and reduces by half. This will take about 10 minutes. When your jam is finished cooking, you should have approximately 3 1/2 cups of plum jam. At this point, you can test your jam by putting a spoonful on the chilled plate. The jam should be thick and, after two minutes, when you drag your finger through the jam, it should leave a clean separation between the two remaining sections of jam. If it doesn't, cook your jam for a few more minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 1/3 C. granulated sugar with the cornstarch. Then, whisk this cornstarch mixture into the jam. Stir occasionally. Cook until the jam reaches a simmer. When it does, simmer for one minute more (be careful at this point not to scorch your jam). Stir in the vanilla extract. Cool the jam until it reaches room temperature.
- Heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 by 13 baking sheet with parchment paper, overhanging the paper on all the sides.
- In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Then, add the melted butter and mix until the mixture reaches a crumbly consistency. I used my hands to mix the butter with the oat mixture. Press 2/3 of the crumb mixture into an even layer on the parchment-lined baking pan. Spread the jam evenly over the oat mixture. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture evenly over the top of the jam.
- Bake bars at 350 degrees F until the jam bubbles on the edges of the bars and until the oat mixture is a light borwn. This will bake from 45 to 55 minutes. Cool completely.
- Slice the bars into 16 even pieces.
- Note: I found that the bars were at their very best about three days after baking them.
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This recipe was adapted from one that appeared in the NY Times. Here is the link: NY Times Food.
