It’s coming into Autumn and some of you are lucky enough to have a glut of fruit at your fingertips.  I am not so lucky, but felt it was worth digging out a decent jam recipe nonetheless!  This recipe for sugar free jam is from a wonderful website www.elanaspantry.com, so I cannot claim it as my own!  Try it out, with plums and other berries.  Plums do naturally contain more pectin than berries, so you may find it a little less set.  Apples also contain quite a bit of pectin and lemon juice too, so experiment with these and see what suits you best.  Let me know how it works!

Vanilla Plum Jam
4 cups plums, pitted and halved
½ cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
1 tablespoon water
1 vanilla bean

1. In a large covered saucepan, bring plums, agave and vanilla bean to a boil
2. Lower heat, uncover pot and simmer 15 minutes, until plums are dissolved (though skins will remain)
3. Cook 10 more minutes to reduce mixture, then remove vanilla bean, place plum mixture in a blender and puree on highest setting
4. Transfer mixture back to pot and reheat on stove
5. In a small bowl, combine arrowroot powder and 1 tablespoon water to make a slurry
6. Bring plum mixture to a boil, then add arrowroot slurry, stirring continuously, until incorporated
7. Remove from heat, cool and transfer to mason jars
8. Store in refrigerator for up to one week

Feel free to play with the amount of agave depending on the sweetness of the fruit you’re using.  This recipe was used for little sour plums, so there is quite a lot of sweetness added in the agave
Arrowroot works well as a thickener, which is usually available from good health food shops.  If you don’t want to use arrowroot it might be worth reducing the jam down to your desired thickness, cooking out most of the liquid. If you do find that something else works in place of arrowroot, please let me know.