This speedy plum jam with hints of vanilla and cinnamon uses a clever time-saving trick in the cooking process. Delicious, fragrant plum preserve in a hurry? Yes please.

What’s the difference between a jam and a preserve? Not an awful lot really.  Jam tends to be made with mashed fruit whereas preserves have whole fruit or large pieces of fruit. If you’d prefer a more traditional jam-like consistency, we suggest mashing up some of the whole fruits.

Been blackberry picking? Try classic blackberry and apple jam next.

Ingredients

500g glucose syrup

500g caster sugar

150ml water

1 tsp salt

2 cinnamon sticks

2 star anise

1 vanilla pod, split lengthways

Pared zest 1 orange

1.5kg plums, halved and pitted

1 tbsp liquid pectin (from most large supermarkets)

15g food-grade citric acid (see Know How) or 5 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method

Put the glucose, sugar, water, salt, cinnamon, star anise, vanilla pod and orange zest in a large preserving pan (or a large, deep heavy-based cast iron saucepan). Put over a medium-high heat and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally, to dissolve the sugar and create a spiced syrup. Use a thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature.

As the syrup reaches 140°C it will start to turn golden. As soon as it hits that temperature, very carefully add the plums (don’t tip them in all at once, otherwise you risk splashing boiling syrup on yourself). The syrup will harden but don’t worry – just continue to heat until it remelts, stirring gently to coax it along (but trying not to break up the plums too much). Continue to cook over a high heat for around 10 minutes or until the syrup is liquid, bubbling, bright purple and returns to 120°C.

Stir in the pectin and citric acid (or lemon juice), then remove from the heat. Leave to cool slightly, then lift out and discard the cinnamon, star anise, orange peel and vanilla pod. Decant into sterilised jars, then seal.

Store the jars in the fridge for up to 4 weeks .Once opened, eat within 2 weeks.