Canning Plum Jam

The same day nectarines begged to be pickled a few weeks back I overheard some plums at the farmers market asking to be jammed. How could I refuse? The The River Cottage Preserves Handbookhas a very simple recipe (pg. 61 of the American version) that involves cooking down the plums with water and sugar and adding a couple sticks of cinnamon to move it  from a ho-hum fruit preserve to a mouth-watering treat. It wasn't a problem to do both batches in the same day as the pickles were quick and the jam effortless.

With one half-jar leftover that I refrigerated rather than water bath canned, I've been spooning embarrassing amounts over vanilla ice cream. It is delicious. I can't stop. If I'd been smart I would have quadrupled the batch and given it as gifts because it's my favorite. Instead I am hording it all to myself...

PS. Wonder what the floating bits in the jam are? The recipe called to crack the plum pits and remove the seed, adding it to the preserves to provide a subtle almond-like flavor.