How to Make Plum Jam in Canada (Bernardin Method)

Plums bring their own acid and their own colour, and you never peel them. What this recipe does need is apples: it is Bernardin’s, and its set comes from tart apples cooked down and sieved into the fruit rather than from a box of pectin.

The recipe below is the Plum variation of Natural Summer Fruit Jams in the Complete Book of Home Preserving, ISBN 978-0-7788-0137-5, p.25, following the method their Strawberry Summer Fruit Jam sets out on p.24. The quantities and the processing time are theirs.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this site are affiliate links — they cost you nothing extra and help keep the site free. We do not test products; we report what Bernardin and Canadian health authorities publish. Affiliate disclosure.

Pick your plums

The plum variety changes the jam significantly. The Canadian options:

Italian prune plums (Stanley) — the default

Late-August to mid-September across Canada. Small, oval, deep purple-blue, freestone (pit comes out clean), thin skin, dense flesh. Highest pectin of any common Canadian plum. Makes a deep purple-red jam with reliable set. The recipe in this article assumes Italian prunes.

Burbank plums

Mid-August. Round, red-purple, juicy, sweet. Slightly lower pectin than Italian; jam sets but is softer.

Methley plums

Early-August. Dark red, very juicy, sweet. Use 50/50 with Italian prunes for best results.

Japanese plums (Santa Rosa, Beauty)

Sweet, red-fleshed, low pectin. On their own they make limp jam; mix 50/50 with Italian prunes.

Prairie hardy plums (Pembina, Brookgold, Brookred, Patterson Pride)

Bred at Morden (Manitoba) and Brookings (South Dakota) research stations for zone 3-4 winters. Used widely across Prairie provinces. Variable pectin levels by variety — Pembina and Brookred are high; Brookgold is moderate. Use them where you have them; results are slightly less consistent than Italian prunes but the flavour is genuinely regional.

Wild Canadian plums

Prunus nigra (Canadian plum) and Prunus americana (American plum) grow wild across southern Canada. Smaller, tart, more pectin than any cultivated variety. Excellent for jam but you may need to add a bit more sugar to balance the tartness.

What you need

• 5 tart apples — Granny Smith is the book’s example. Stem and blossom ends off, chopped coarsely, cores left in
• 1 lemon peel, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp (45 mL) bottled lemon juice
• Water — enough to keep the apples from sticking
• 6 cups (1.5 L) chopped pitted plums, skins on. Bernardin publishes no whole-fruit weight for this, and 6 cups chopped cannot be converted to a weight, so measure the chopped fruit rather than weighing the plums
• 5½ cups (1.375 L) granulated sugar
• Bernardin 250 mL regular-mouth jars, fresh SNAP lids, bands
• Standard canning kit — jar lifter, headspace tool, funnel, water-bath canner, ladle, large heavy pot, paring knife (which canner to buy)
• Two or three small saucers for the freezer, for the gel stage test
• A fine sieve for the applesauce

Method

Step 1: Make the applesauce base

This is the step that replaces a box of pectin, and it is why the recipe calls for apples at all.

1. Remove the stem and blossom ends from 5 tart apples and chop them coarsely. Leave the cores in — Bernardin says so, and the cores carry much of the pectin.
2. In a large deep stainless steel saucepan, combine the apples with 1 finely chopped lemon peel, 3 tbsp (45 mL) bottled lemon juice, and enough water to keep them from sticking.
3. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat, partially cover, and boil gently 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is very soft.
4. Working in batches, press it through a fine sieve with the back of a spoon to yield 2 cups (500 mL) applesauce. Discard the skins and cores.

Step 2: Halve and pit the plums

1. Wash plums under cool water. Pat dry.
2. Score around the stem-blossom equator with a paring knife.
3. Twist the two halves apart. For Italian prunes this works cleanly; for clingstone varieties you may need to cut the flesh away from the pit.
4. Remove pits. Reserve a few for stock if you make plum syrup (the pits contain natural amaretto-like flavour).
5. Chop the halves, then measure 6 cups (1.5 L) of chopped fruit.

Don’t peel. Skins stay on. They will integrate into the jam and add colour.

Step 3: Cook the jam

1. In a clean large deep stainless steel saucepan, combine the 2 cups (500 mL) applesauce, the 6 cups (1.5 L) chopped plums and the 5½ cups (1.375 L) sugar.
2. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar.
3. Boil, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and mounds on a spoon — about 20 minutes. That is the endpoint and the approximate time Bernardin publishes; the spoon, not the clock, is what decides.
4. Remove from heat and skim the foam.

Bernardin’s note for this section: keep a close watch on the pan. As the spread thickens it sticks and can burn if it is not stirred frequently and thoroughly, and a heavy-bottomed pan helps.

Step 4: The gel stage test

This one is Bernardin’s, not an extra step of ours. Their introduction to jams with no added pectin says: “Before making any of the jams in this section, carefully review the gel stage tests on page 19.” This recipe is in that section.

The test that needs no thermometer is their refrigerator test. Take the pan off the heat first so it cannot overcook while you test. Chill two or three small saucers in the freezer. Put a teaspoonful (5 mL) of the jam on a cold saucer, chill it in the freezer for 1 minute, then push the edge with your finger:

• Set, and the surface wrinkles → done.
• Not yet set → back on the heat and test again on a fresh cold saucer.

The full walk-through is in why didn’t my jam set.

Step 5: Jar and process

1. Have your water-bath canner simmering with enough water to cover jars by 2.5 cm.
2. Have hot jars ready, fresh SNAP lids on the counter.
3. Stir the jam to redistribute fruit (it tends to settle).
4. Ladle hot jam into hot jars. Leave 0.5 cm (¼ inch) headspace.
5. Run the headspace tool down inside each jar to release air bubbles.
6. Wipe rims with a damp clean cloth.
7. Apply fresh SNAP lids fingertip-tight.
8. With the jars completely covered by water, process 10 minutes — Bernardin’s figure for this recipe, p.24.
9. Turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, and wait 5 minutes before lifting the jars out.
10. Adjust for altitude per our altitude-adjustments guide.
11. Cool 24 hours undisturbed on a towel. Check seals.

If a jar doesn’t seal: the 24-hour rule applies.

Corrected 17 September 2026: this page used to publish a different plum jam as its only method — 2 kg of plums, 4 cups of sugar, a 30–60 minute rest and a 25–35 minute boil, for about 6 × 250 mL jars — with no source behind any of those figures. It is replaced above by Bernardin’s Plum jam, Complete Book of Home Preserving (ISBN 978-0-7788-0137-5) p.25, following the method on p.24. That is a different recipe: it uses 5 tart apples, sieved to applesauce, for the set. The 0.5 cm headspace and the 10 minutes in the canner are unchanged.

If you have Damson plums

Bernardin publishes a second, separate plum jam for them: a Damson Plum variation of their Traditional Long-Cook Jams, at p.21 of the same book. It takes no apples and no added pectin — Damsons carry enough of their own.

It is Damson only. Their ingredient line names that one variety, and we are not extending it to Italian prune, Burbank, Methley, Japanese or prairie hardy plums, because naming a variety is how a source marks the scope it tested. If you have Damsons, read p.21 and use its quantities; we are not restating them here. For every other plum, the recipe above is the one.

Storage

• Cool, dark, dry place at room temperature
• Best quality 12 months — Bernardin’s guidance is to use home-canned food within one year. That is a quality window, not an expiry: the jar is as safe as the process made it. Colour, flavour and texture fade.
• After opening: refrigerate, use within one week (HealthLink BC)
• Plum jam darkens slightly over time — normal and safe

Corrected 31 Aug 2026: this page previously gave an after-opening window of 3-4 weeks. HealthLink BC File #22 publishes one week for any opened home-canned container — “Once the container has been opened, refrigerate leftovers, and use within one week.” Our longer figure was never attributed to anyone. The shelf life of the sealed jar is unchanged.

Variations

Mixed plums

Bernardin’s ingredient line is simply “chopped pitted plums”, so a mix of varieties is inside the recipe as published — measure the same 6 cups (1.5 L) whatever goes into it. Italian prunes give the deepest colour and the most balanced flavour; the sweeter varieties round it out. The set does not depend on which plums you pick, because the apples are doing that work.

We have dropped the spiced and spirited variations this page used to carry — cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, brandy, and a plum butter reduced by half. Each changed the composition or the cook of a tested recipe on figures no source we hold publishes, and the plum butter went further: it claimed Bernardin’s 10 minutes for a product reduced to half the volume, which changes how heat moves through the jar.

How to use plum jam

• On toast or scones — the obvious daily use
• Glaze for roast pork or duck — brush in the last 15 minutes of roasting
• Filling for thumbprint cookies and tarts
• Cheese plate — pairs especially well with sharp cheddar, aged gouda, blue cheese
• PB&J variant — peanut butter and plum jam is underrated
• Stirred into yogurt with a sprinkle of granola
• Crepe filling with crème fraîche
• Sandwich condiment with cured meats and grainy mustard
• Plum jam thumbprint shortbreads — Christmas baking standard in many Canadian-European households

Common problems

• Jam set too firmly (gummy). Over-cooked. Three salvage options: dilute with hot water and stir to loosen; use as a glaze instead of a spread; warm jars gently in hot water before serving. Next batch, stop as soon as it mounds on the spoon.
• Jam too soft. Under-cooked, or the applesauce came out short of 2 cups. Back on the heat and test again on a fresh cold saucer.
• Plum skins visible as chewy strips. Variety has thick skins; either chop finer next time or blanch-and-peel the plums before chopping (rare for Italian prunes).
• Jam colour is dull brown not purple. Overcooked or stored in light. Stop earlier; store dark.
• Foam stayed in the jam. Skim better next time or use ½ tsp butter trick.
• Fruit floated to top. Stir between ladling jars or let jam cool 5 minutes before jarring.
• Jar didn’t seal. The 24-hour rule.
• Crystals after months. Sugar recrystallization. Warm jar gently to redissolve.

Yield expectations

• 6 cups (1.5 L) chopped plums plus 2 cups (500 mL) applesauce → about 8 × 250 mL jars, Bernardin’s published yield for this recipe

A typical Canadian household goes through 6-12 × 250 mL jars of plum jam per year. Scale accordingly.

Why plum jam is worth making

• The most reliable Canadian jam — Italian prune plums almost always set without intervention
• Genuinely regional — Niagara, Okanagan, prairie, and Quebec all produce excellent plums
• No added pectin — the apples supply it, which is what makes this a traditional method rather than a box one
• Heritage Canadian recipe — Mennonite, Ukrainian, Polish, French, and English Canadian traditions all have plum-preserve recipes
• Best gift jar — deep purple-red is the prettiest jam colour on the shelf

Next steps

• How to make strawberry jam — the gateway recipe
• How to make peach jam — August counterpart
• How to make rhubarb jam — June starter
• Why didn’t my jam set — troubleshooting
• Canning altitude adjustments — required reading
• Water-bath canning pillar — broader method
• Canned peaches in syrup.