Plum Marmalade

Autumn is definitely here....It's been raining cats and dogs for days now. Leaves are changing colour and are dropping to the ground, but not only leaves - apples and plums as well. The average villa here in Norway seems to have some sort of fruit tree in the garden, with branches flecked with fruit. Evidently too much fruit for one household alone, as half of the harvest is already lying rotten on the lawn beneath. It makes me sad to see this... The fruit could have been used to make muffins, pies, cakes, jellies, jams, juices and so much more. That's probably why a little bit of conscientious scrumping, is both common and nearly accepted here in Norway.

So...yes, I admit it... I have scrumped some plums today, and I do not feel bad about it at all! But what to do with nearly 2 kg of plums....? Make plum marmalade!!! And since my husband doesn't like plum marmalade at all, I will be able to enjoy the whole batch myself! I'm already dreaming of freshly made waffles with plum marmalade....

Plum Marmalade

Ingredients:
2 kg of plums
0,5 - 1,5 dl of water
0,5 - 1 kg of sugar

1.) Cut the plums in half and remove the stones.
2.) Put the plums into a heavy-bottomed cooking pot and add water. The amount of water depends on the ripeness of the plums - very ripe equals little water, unripe equals more water.
3.) Cook the plums for about 10 minutes until it becomes a liquidy porridge.
4.) Remove the foam on top of the plum porridge with a spoon.
5.) Add sugar and stir well until all sugar has dissolved. The amount of sugar depends on whether you like your marmalade to be very sweet or not.
6.) Remove marmalade from heat, place 1 tablespoon of marmalade on a chilled plate, run a finger through it, and when a crinkly track mark is left, marmalade has set.
7.) Pour the plum marmalade directly into hot and sterilised jars, and seal the jars. (I sterilised the jars, lids and rubber rings by first washing them in hot water, and then letting them boil in water for 30 minutes. Make sure you have a large cooking pot for this and that you put a dish towel on the bottom of the pot as this will make sure that your glass jars won't start to bounce while the water is boiling.)
8.) Store in a dark, cool place.

Enjoy!