An easy stewed plums recipe flavoured with fragrant and warming cinnamon and zesty lemon. Best of all, you only need 4 simple ingredients to make them!
Great with yogurt, porridge, and muesli for breakfast or custard and ice cream for dessert!
The plums are poached in a syrup of lemon and brown sugar, with earthy cinnamon adding a comforting warming note.
The beauty is that they take just 10 minutes to prepare, and can be stored in the fridge for up to a week!
👩🍳 Have you seen my cinnamon spiced stewed apples?
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✔️ Why should you try it?
- Stewed plums are simple to make, requiring just a few ingredients and minimal cooking skills.
- They can be served at any time of the day, be it for breakfast with porridge, or as a dessert with custard or ice cream.
- Plums are packed with vitamins, fibre and antioxidants, providing a healthier alternative to many other sweet treats.
- Once cooked, these stewed plums can be stored in the fridge for up to a week, making them a convenient ready-to-eat option.
- Plums are at their freshest and most flavourful in late summer, or early autumn. Making stewed plums allows you to make the most of this delicious seasonal fruit.
🛒 Ingredients
You only need 4 ingredients to make these delicious stewed plums;
- Plums - any variety will work but make sure they are ripe. Wash, de-stone and halve the plums (leave the skin on).
- Lemon - the juice of half a lemon adds a subtle citrus flavour to the sugar syrup in which the plums are poached.
- Brown Sugar - I prefer to use light brown sugar but you could use dark brown sugar.
- Water - to make the sugar syrup.
- Cinnamon Stick - gently infuses its flavour into the poached plums.
🔪 How to stew plums
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
One: Put the brown sugar, lemon juice, and water in a saucepan and place it on a medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar has dissolved.
Two: Add the halved and stoned plums to the pan, along with the cinnamon stick.
Three: Cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes until the plums are glossy and the sauce is syrupy.
💭 Top tips
- If you are using slightly under-ripe plums, increase the cooking time by 2-3 minutes.
- The amount of brown sugar can be adjusted depending on the sweetness of your plums and personal preference.
- Be careful not to overcook the plums, as they can become mushy. Keep an eye on them and test with a fork for desired tenderness.
- While cinnamon adds a traditional warm note, feel free to experiment with other spices like star anise or cardamom for a twist.
🍴 Serving suggestions
What to do with stewed plums? There are so many ways to serve them. Here are some ideas;
With yogurt, oatmeal (porridge) or granola for breakfast.
On top of buttermilk pancakes or drop scones.
With honeycomb ice cream or custard for dessert. They're also delicious stirred into creamy rice pudding.
The stewed plums make a great base for a plum crumble, or why not use them to top a plain vanilla cheesecake?
📖 Variations
- Use honey or maple syrup instead of brown sugar to make the recipe refined sugar-free.
- Replace the lemon juice with orange juice.
- Add lemon zest to make it extra lemony.
- Swap the cinnamon stick for a vanilla pod, cardamom pods, star anise, or chopped stem ginger in syrup.
- Add a splash of port, red wine or brandy for a grown-up version.
- Add 2 peeled and chopped Bramley apples for stewed apple and plums.
🥡 Storage
Store - Allow the stewed plums to cool completely before attempting to store them. Once cooled, transfer the stewed plums, along with any syrup, into a clean, airtight container. Store this in the fridge for up to a week.
Reheat - When you're ready to serve, you can enjoy them cold, or if you prefer, gently reheat them in a saucepan over low heat until warmed through.
❓ FAQs
If you wish to store them for longer, stewed plums can be frozen for up to 3 months. Make sure they are in a suitable, well-sealed container to prevent freezer burn. Thaw in the fridge overnight before use.
Plums are an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. You could replace the brown sugar (used in the sugar syrup) for stevia, in order to reduce the sugar content of the stewed plums.
You can stew plums whole with stones in, and then cut them in half when cool and discard the stones. I prefer to halve and stone plums before stewing.
Yes, you can stew plums in the microwave. You will need to put the ingredients in a microwaveable bowl, cover with clingfilm and pierce the lid, and cook on high for 5-6 minutes.
Yes, in fact, slightly underripe plums often work better for stewing as they hold their shape well and their tartness balances the sweetness of the syrup.
😋Related recipes
More delicious fruit recipes!
- Easy Blueberry Compote
- Frozen Berry Compote
- Strawberry Coulis
- Stewed Rhubarb
- Blackcurrant Coulis
- Roasted Rhubarb
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Recipe
Easy Stewed Plums
Equipment
- Chopping Board
- Knife
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 8 Plums halved and stoned
- 3 tablespoon Light Brown Sugar
- ½ Lemon juice only
- 4 tablespoon Water
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
Instructions
- Place the brown sugar, water and lemon juice into a saucepan. Place on a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
- Add the halved and stoned plums and cinnamon stick, and cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes until the plums are tender and the syrup is glossy.
- DIscard the cinnamon stick and allow the plums to cool slightly before serving.
Notes
- If you are using slightly under-ripe plums, increase the cooking time by 2-3 minutes.
- The amount of brown sugar can be adjusted depending on the sweetness of your plums and personal preference.
- Be careful not to overcook the plums, as they can become mushy. Keep an eye on them and test with a fork for desired tenderness.
- While cinnamon adds a traditional warm note, feel free to experiment with other spices like star anise or cardamom for a twist
- Use honey or maple syrup instead of brown sugar to make the recipe refined sugar-free.
- Replace the lemon juice with orange juice.
- Add lemon zest to make it extra lemony.
- Swap the cinnamon stick for a vanilla pod, cardamom pods, star anise, or chopped stem ginger in syrup.
- Add a splash of port, red wine or brandy for a grown-up version.
- Add 2 peeled and chopped Bramley apples for stewed apple and plums.
Katherine
I love stewed plums! Such a versatile way to use them up.
Gina
Love enjoying these for breakfast over some yogurt with granola!
Toni
It is seriously amazing! I love that it is really quick and easy to make, too!
Tavo
Just made this today, I had all the ingredients! So fast and easy to make! Thank you!
Dannii
I grew up eating stewed plums at my grandparents. Such a delicious dessert.
Caroline
I haven't had stewed plums in so long, but these are making me think I should make them myself soon - they look and sound so tasty.