This vanilla bean plum butter is the perfect use for summer plums. It’s slightly sweet with a big punch of vanilla bean flavor. This plum butter is great slathered on toast, used in desserts, mixed with ice cream or eaten straight from the pot.
I’m going to Costa Rica! Well, actually I’m going to Costa Rica on Friday BUT I figured it was about time I let you guys know. I’m so excited because I’ve never been there before and I just really want to cuddle a monkey. Do you think I can find both a monkey and a sloth to bring home with me? Do you think the cats would hate them?
Don’t worry. I know you can’t really bring them home. But I want too.
I mean, could you imagine a sloth just chilling on the kitty condo? Isn’t your heart just squeeeeeeeeeing?
Since I’m leaving on Friday I’m currently in “OMG I NEED TO USE UP ALL MY FRUIT AND VEGETABLES” mood. That’s why I decided it was time to put my plums to good use and make myself some good old fashioned plum butter.
Use this vanilla bean plum butter in my vanilla bean plum butter crumble bars!
If you’ve never made homemade fruit butter before just know it’s crazy easy but take a little bit of patience. The cooking down stage it best taken low and slow because nothing burns more than hot bubbling fruit butter.
Please know that I know that from experience. I ain’t lying.
So really all you need to do is cook your fruit until it’s soft, puree it in your blender (I used my Vitamix!) until smooth and then cook down until you reach your desired consistency. If you want to keep the fruit butter for spooning over ice cream or spreading on toast cook it down till it’s thick but not congealed.
Don’t worry if you’ve never made fruit butter before. I promise it’s easy! Want even more delicious recipes to make with fruit? Try my Vanilla Honey Peach Butter, Spiced Plum Butter, Strawberry Freezer Jam, Carrot Cake Jam or my Vanilla Bean Strawberry Jam. Trust me, it’s time to get into the kitchen and use up that fruit!
Vanilla Bean Plum Butter
This vanilla bean plum butter is the perfect use for summer plums. It's slightly sweet with a big punch of vanilla bean flavor. This plum butter is great slathered on toast, used in desserts, mixed with ice cream or eaten straight from the pot.
Yield: about 1-1/2 cups
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds black plums
- 1-1/2 cups dark brown sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
Directions:
Cut your plums in half, take out the pit and cut the plums into quarters.
Add to a medium sized pot (I used my 4.5 quart Le Creuset pot) along with your dark brown sugar and water. Simmer on medium high heat for about 25 minutes or until the plums are soft and starting to fall apart.
Add the hot plums along with all the liquid to a high powered blender (I used my Vitamix) and puree until smooth.
Add the puree back to the pot, stir in the vanilla bean paste and cook down on low heat until the mixture is thick and the consistency of jelly. This can take anywhere from 1 to 1.5 hours.
Note: If you want to use this fruit butter for toast or to spoon over ice cream you don't have to cook it down super thick. However, if you want to use these for vanilla plum crumble bars you need to cook it down until it's super thick so that they hold together when you cut the bars.