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Years ago, while browsing through a 1963 copy of Farm Journal's Freezing & Canning Cookbook, I saw the following, submitted by a Farm Journal reader: "When I have both apples and plums, I combine equal amounts of chopped, pitted plums and sliced, unpeeled apples. I cook the mixture until the fruits are soft and put it through the food mill, When sweetened to taste, I can the fruit combination like applesauce."

Now, if you've been canning very long, you probably know that "back in the day" many canning recipes weren't tested - and even those that were tested weren't tested to the high standards of today. Still, I wondered if there was a modern, tested safe recipe for this intriguing recipe.

My research lead me to The National Center for Home Food Preservation website - the gold standard when it comes to home canning safety. And there, under the "Fruit Puree" guidelines, I had my answer. Yes, it was safe to combine plums and apples and can them as sauce. (In fact, there are a number of fruits this is safe to do this with; see the guidelines here.)

That's when I altered my favorite applesauce recipe to include plums - because, like the Farm Journal reader of days gone by, I often have both plums and apples to preserve at the same time. I can save myself a lot of time and energy by combining them into one jar! Read all the directions here, or watch my video below. You can also go to my YouTube channel to watch the video.

I use these beautiful red skinned and fleshed plums, which combine sweet-tart flavors.

Plum Applesauce Recipe

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5 lbs. plums*

5 lbs. apples*

3 cups water

8 tablespoons bottled lemon juice (5% acidity)  

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon (optional) 

1/2 cup granulated cane sugar (optional)

Any apple will do for this recipe, but chose your sweet and tart flavors wisely. (See Notes, below.)

1. Wash the apples and remove their cores. Peeling is optional**. Put the prepared apples in the bottom of a large cooking pot.

2. Wash the plums and cut in half along their "seam" to easily remove the pit. (If your plums cling to the pit, use a tube-like apple corer to remove the pit.) Add the plums to the pot.

3. Add the water to the pot and place the pot over medium heat. Cook, stirring often to prevent scorching, until the apples are tender.

Cooking down the fruit.

4. Use an immersion blender or a food mill to puree the cooked plums and apples.

5. Stir in the lemon juice. If using, stir in the cinnamon. Taste the resulting sauce. If needed, add a little sugar. Taste again; if needed, add more sugar. (The 1/2 cup sugar in this recipe is specific to my particular blend of plums and apples. It is safe to completely omit the sugar, if desired.) IF YOU DON'T WISH TO CAN THIS plum applesauce, you may now let it cool enough to place it in freezer or refrigerator containers.

Puree the fruit and add lemon juice and optional cinnamon and sugar.

6. TO CAN: Bring the sauce to a boil.

7. One jar at a time, pour hot sauce into hot canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. 

8. Process both pint and quart jars for 20 minutes in a water bath canner, adjusting for your altitude.***

Makes about 6-7 quart jars. 

Canned plum applesauce.

NOTES: 
* I use red plums that are more tart than sweet and apples that are a little too sweet to be tart. Feel free to use whatever plums and apples you like, but I recommend against using both a sweet plum and a sweet apple. Try to make one fruit more on the tart side.

** Ball says that peeling apples for their applesauce recipe is optional; see the video for more details. I use their processing time for this recipe; therefore, peeling is optional.

*** Learn how to adjust for your altitude here. 

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