Fruit juice without anything added is fruit juice, not syrup. Cooked down fruit without anything added is concentrated fruit juice, not syrup. To make syrup you add sugar, honey, or some other sweetener to fruit juice.

Plums alone are not sweet enough to be used as a sweetener. You could mix the juice with other sweeter fruits but you still wouldn't have syrup.

You could make a plum dipping sauce that is tart and not sweet made with ginger, hot chili oil, onions, garlic, and soy sauce. Look for Traditional Plum Sauce recipes on the web.

Nancy

Whenever I try to make green pepper jelly using the no sugar added pectin - it usually doesn't gel properly and turns out saucy at best. Maybe you could try using no sugar pectin and see what happens. If it does gel, you can dilute it after opening.

Sugar - or the equivalent - is required to make syrup. If you want syrup then you will have to find something else to reduce your sugar intake with.

Even using Pomona Pectin will gel the fruit juice. It will gel water.

Dave

Thanks for the input! I decided to make a plum butter of sorts in my crock pot, using honey instead of sugar to sweeten. I think it will at least be a good, lower sugar alternative to maple syrup for our morning pancakes.

Remember that 100% honey as the sweetener will interfere with the setting process (a chemical reaction with the natural pectin in the plums). It also contains liquid as opposed to dry sweeteners like sugar.

Your butter will still thicken but you'll have to cook it longer and it will be primarily an evaporative process.

In this case working with smaller batches and low heat in the oven is likely to result in a better product.

Carol

In this case working with smaller batches and low heat in the oven is likely to result in a better product.

Agree with Carol. The crock pot approach is far from ideal for a quality end product. Likely why it isn't recommended.

Dave

I see! How long does one cook a fruit butter in the oven? and at what temp.?

Afew years back my grandmother got a banner year for plums. I made plum sauce - pretty much the same as apple sauce, but made with plums instead. I did add a little bit of sugar - but we are talking less than 1/4 cup of sugar per quart of sauce.

We used it like apple sauce. Ate it plain, stirred into oatmeal, topping on waffles, or made muffins with it.

I start my butter on the rangetop (for speed) but when it begins to thicken and splatter (the volcanic effect) I transfer it to an open roasting pan (or rectangular pan of appropriate size) and bake, stirring occasionally, at 250 degrees or so. It's safer and the risk of scorching is minimized. Stir occasionally.

I make bigger batches, so it takes quite a while. A small batch would go more quickly. What you're looking for with a butter is that point where the product mounds on a spoon with no seepage of liquid around the edges.

The amount of sweetener is entirely up to you. You may want to begin conservatively because as the mixture cooks down the flavor intensifies. Also avoid strong honeys unless you feel the flavor would be compatible with the plums.

Carol

lana_lang - just one point to add. I believe I am right in thinking that if you are trying to reduce your sugar intake, substituting sugar ie sucrose with fruit juice ie fructose won't help. Both are sugars and equally calorific for the same amount of sweetness. The only advantage of using fruit juice is that you get vitamins and some minerals and fibre with your sugar. Using honey instead of sugar is also not going to reduce your calorie intake since it too is basically 'sugar' ie a little sucrose plus glucose and fructose. The best way to reduce your calorie intake from sugars is to try to re-educate your palate to accept less sweet foods. I served stewed gooseberries the other day. I thought they were just the right sweetness. My son found them too sour and my husband found them too sweet. So you see people can get used to quite different levels of sweetness.