Yellow Plum Compote for Winter

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   Gather your ingredients. Wash the fruit thoroughly and remove the stems. Choose fruit that's not overripe and free of blemishes. You can halve the yellow plums if the pit comes out easily; if it doesn't, leave them whole. Compotes made with the pits in shouldn't be stored longer than a year.

2. Step 2:

   

   The first thing to do is prepare the jars — everything else is quick and easy. Wash the jars with baking soda and rinse them well under running water. While they're still wet, set them neck-down in a cold oven and lay the lids in too. Turn it on to 300°F (150°C); once it reaches temperature, sterilize the jars — 15 minutes for 1-liter jars, 20 for 2-liter, 25 for 3-liter. This is my favorite method; I've used it for years and it's never let me down.

3. Step 3:

   

   Quarter the apple and pear and cut out the cores and seeds. Leaving the skin on, slice the apple thin; leave the pear in quarters. Drop the cut fruit right into water acidified with lemon or citric acid so it doesn't brown. If you left the plums whole, prick the top of each with a toothpick so it doesn't burst.

4. Step 4:

   

   Fill the sterilized, still-warm jars with fruit — not too tightly, but up to the neck. Boil the water and carefully pour it straight from the kettle into the jars, right up to the rim. Cover with a lid and let stand 15 minutes; this pasteurizes the fruit. Use only fully boiling water. I made two 0.7-liter jars and needed about 1 liter of water, but you may need a little more or less depending on how much fruit you've packed in.

5. Step 5:

   

   After the time's up, drain the water from both jars into a saucepan — a special lid with holes makes this easy. Add 1 cup of sugar and bring to a boil. Let the syrup boil for about 3–4 minutes. Add a pinch of citric acid to each jar, then pour the boiling syrup back over the fruit, filling the jars to overflowing.

6. Step 6:

   

   Set the lid on top and leave it for 2–3 minutes so the air bubbles in the water and fruit can rise to the surface, then seal the lid tight. Wipe each jar and roll it across the table to check the seal (a natural wood surface works best). If you're short on syrup, just top off with boiling water. Turn the jars upside down onto their lids, wrap them in a blanket, and let them cool. Then move them to a cool, dark place for storage, or into the refrigerator.