There’s been a lot of emails with photo attachments in my inbox lately. It seems that many of you loved the Cheater’s (Chia) Strawberry Jam so much that simply saying it wasn’t good enough. I received 10 photos of comprising of a collection of happy little jam jars, kids with strawberry-chia smears all over their faces and a few pieces of jam-slathered toast with big bites taken out of them – give me a nibble you teases!
I also had a few emails and comments about what other fruits people could try their hand at. While strawberries are always a winner, this is a recipe idea that works with many seasonally available fruits. There’s certainly been an abundance of half-eaten jars of this-or-that chia jam in my fridge of late, with stone-fruit being a recurring feature.
We’ve particularly been enjoying a lot of fresh plums this summer and while there are plenty of white, purple and pink fleshed varieties available, it’s always the purple and red fleshed plums I go for – they’re higher in anthocyanins after all, particularly the skins. There’s a decent amount of antioxidants to be found in this seedy breakfast spread then and the combination of plums + chia make for a very fibre rich jam, handy if you don’t like the stigma of buying prunes (not that I care, I love prunes!).
Health considerations aside, the best reasons to make this plum chia jam is the taste (flavourful with a gentle kiss of vanilla) and the ease (simple, basic, no problemo, painless, no sweat). Cut it, mash it, mix it, fridge it – that’s it. Have you got a fork, some fruit and some chia? Ok Go!
- 3 large, softened blood (or other) plums
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- ¼ tsp vanilla powder/paste OR ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Chop plums roughly and discard pits. In a small bowl, mash plums gently until broken up and juicy. Add chia seeds and vanilla powder and then pour into a 400ml sterilised glass jar.
- Refrigerate for 60 minutes to gel up and thicken. Jam will keep in the fridge for up to one week, or can be frozen.
Comments 16
Yum! I love plum’s. The deeper the colour the tastier! This looks like such a great jam recipe and I love the chia seeds in it, so perfect.
Author
I think it’s definitely a case of darker is better for plums, I especially love the red fleshed varieties – so tasty!
Thanks for the comment Natalie, glad you love the chia seeds in the recipe.
i just started to make jam , and this is so easy , and really not all that difficult . i will be trying ths method . any kind of fruit not suitable ? t.u. for this great recipe .
Author
How exciting that you’ve been jam-making! What have you been making so far?
So far I’ve been making lots of berry jams with this method (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries), and as well as these plums have found that nectarines and peaches are wonderful. I’ve got a while to wait until cherry season, but I think pitted cherries would be fabulous too!
Plums are my favorite summer fruit!!! I had no idea you could make jam with chia seeds. Brilliant! Thanks so much for sharing this with us at Raw Foods Thursdays!
Author
Plums are so great Heather, glad you agree! Thanks for the comment and for hosting Raw Food Thursdays.
Alison, thanks for stopping by and adding to the “plummy” collection. Cheers
Author
Thank you for having me over at Carole’s Chatter! 😀
Hi Alison! Just wanted to let you know that your posts inspired me and I shared how to make a Peach Chia Jam over at Balanced Platter today with credit to you for the lesson. Thanks again for teaching me how!!
http://balancedplatter.com/quick-and-easy-peach-chia-jam
Heather
Author
Hi Heather! Thanks for letting me know, going to nosey on by and have a look now 😀
I love this idea. I love chia seeds, and I have an abundance of plums and peaches that I’m hoping will mix well for jam 🙂 I’m always low on freezer space, though, and wondered if you have any insights into preserving this recipe in a water bath instead?
Author
Oooer a plum and peach chia jam sounds amazing! While I’m not adept at water bath preserving (yet, I’ve got my eye on a kit!) I did find a fabulous article here at One Hundred Dollars a Month with instructions for water bath canning. It looks like it would probably work with all manner of chia jam creations 🙂
It’s in the fridge right now!!
Author
Woohoo! Hope it turned out great 😀
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