Homemade Plum Jelly

You can add a small amount of another delicious juice (like apple, white grape, or even water) to bring your total liquid up to 5½ cups. Choose something mild so it doesn’t overpower the plum flavor. Apple juice is a great choice because it’s high in natural pectin.

If you’re making a conscious effort to cut back on sugar in your homemade preserves, low- or no-sugar-needed pectin is your best bet. These types of pectin use calcium instead of sugar to help the jelly set, allowing you to significantly reduce the sugar content without sacrificing texture. I’ve successfully cut the sugar in half and still achieved a perfect gel. Both Ball and Sure-Jell offer low-sugar pectin options. Just use the same amount of pectin as the original recipe calls for, and reduce the sugar to about 1½ cups.

Foam is natural and comes from boiling fruit. Adding a tablespoon of butter helps reduce foam. However, if you forget the butter, don’t sweat it. You’ll just need to skim the foam off the top before pouring the jelly into jars.

Give it 24–48 hours—sometimes it just needs time. If it’s still runny, you can remake it by reheating the jelly with more pectin and reprocessing. Or keep it as a delicious plum syrup for pancakes or drinks!

Absolutely. A jelly bag works great and often yields a clearer jelly. Just remember: no squeezing! Let it drain naturally.

You may have perused the jelly aisle and notice jars labeled jam, jelly, preserves or marmalade. They are all produced the same way. The difference is in how the fruit is treated.
Jelly is made with fruit juice only.
Jam is make with pureed or crushed fruit.
Preserves have large chunks of fruit in them.
Marmalade is made with the peels only and made exclusively with citrus fruits.

Stevia, Splenda, and saccharin-based sweeteners can all be used in place of sugar—as long as you’re using low- or no-sugar pectin. Avoid aspartame, though, as it breaks down under high heat and can leave a bitter taste. Follow the same guidelines outlined for low-sugar preserves. Because artificial sweeteners are much sweeter than regular sugar, use about 2 tablespoons of sweetener for every 1 cup of sugar the recipe calls for. For example, if using low-sugar pectin and the recipe calls for 1¾ cups of sugar, you would substitute with 3 tablespoons plus 1½ teaspoons of your chosen sweetener. Keep in mind: the final texture may differ slightly from traditional jelly—often a bit looser or less glossy—but the flavor will still shine through.

If you’re using honey, switch to a pectin made for low- or no-sugar recipes (such as Sure-Jell Low Sugar, Ball Low or No-Sugar Pectin, or Pomona’s Universal Pectin). Honey is sweeter than sugar, so you’ll use less of it. A good starting point is one cup of honey for every 1½ to two cups of sugar in the original recipe. For example, if the recipe calls for 6½ cups of sugar, you might use 3 to 4 cups of honey, depending on how sweet you like it. Watch for texture changes. Jelly made with honey may be softer or looser in texture and slightly cloudier than sugar-based jelly.

Yes, you can use brown sugar instead of white sugar in plum jelly—but there are a few things to keep in mind. Brown sugar contains molasses, which gives it a deeper flavor and more moisture than white sugar. This can darken the jelly’s color, add a richer, caramel-like flavor, and result in a slightly softer set (especially if using large amounts). You can replace white sugar with an equal amount of light or dark brown sugar (1:1 ratio). For example, if the recipe calls for 6½ cups of sugar, use 6½ cups of brown sugar. However, because brown sugar attracts moisture, it can slightly affect the gelling process. If you’re concerned about consistency, you might want to use half white sugar and half brown sugar, or add an extra tablespoon of pectin to help firm things up.

Yes, you can use liquid pectin instead of powdered pectin in plum jelly—but you’ll need to make a few important adjustments. Liquid and powdered pectin aren’t interchangeable in a 1:1 ratio, and the order of ingredients and timing matters. Where powdered pectin is mixed in before boiling, usually with the fruit juice, liquid pectin is added after the sugar, once the mixture has boiled. Liquid pectin typically comes in 3 oz pouches. One pouch equals one standard box of powdered pectin.

I prefer to remove the pits because it cuts down on cooking time. You can leave them, but you may need to cook the plums for longer.