Plum Jam substitute

Best substitute

Blackcurrant, damson or black cherry jam

Use the same amount as the plum jam you are replacing

Best for Linzer bars

Close match

For spreading, glazing or swirling, any dark tart jam swaps in one for one, with blackcurrant, damson, black cherry and prune butter the closest in flavour and colour, and raspberry or blackberry jam next. For a filling inside pastry, sweetness is not the problem, wetness is: a loose supermarket jam will leak, so cook it down for five minutes with a teaspoon of cornstarch per half cup, or use lekvar or apricot preserves which are stiff enough to hold. You can also make a fast plum jam from fresh or frozen plums in about twenty minutes, which is worth it if plum flavour is the point.

Other plum jam substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Prune butter, lekvar or dried plum puree
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount thinned with a teaspoon of water if it is very stiff
Prunes cooked down to a thick dark paste, sold as lekvar in Eastern European shops.
What changes
Best for
kolache, buchty, hamantaschen, filled buns, strudel, doughnuts
Where a recipe is Central European and the jam is going inside dough, this is often closer to what the original meant than any bright supermarket jam. Prunes are dried plums, so the flavour is genuinely in the family, just deeper, darker and much less acidic, with a raisin-like edge. It is also stiff, which is the real advantage: it will not run out of a kolache or split a bun open the way a loose jam does. Expect a less fruity, more caramel result, and add a teaspoon of lemon juice per half cup if you want the tartness back.
3Quick plum jam from fresh or frozen plums
Close match
500g plums plus 250g sugar makes about 1 ½ cups
Stoned chopped plums simmered hard with sugar and lemon juice until thick, then cooled.
What changes
Best for
any recipe where plum flavour matters, Linzer tortes, fillings, glazes, toast
Twenty minutes of work and by far the best result. Stone and chop the plums, skins on for colour, and simmer with half their weight in sugar and a tablespoon of lemon juice, stirring, until a spoonful chilled on a cold plate wrinkles when you push it. Damsons and Italian prune plums give the darkest, sharpest jam; supermarket red plums give a milder, sweeter one. This is a refrigerator jam meant for immediate use and it keeps about two weeks chilled. Do not process it in jars using an untested recipe: safe canning depends on tested sugar and acid levels, so follow a tested recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation if you plan to shelf-store it.
4Raspberry or blackberry jam
Different taste
Use the same amount
Common berry jams, tart and brightly coloured, seeded or seedless.
What changes
Best for
Linzer cookies, thumbprints, jam roly-poly, cake fillings, sandwich biscuits, toast
The most likely thing to be in the fridge and a perfectly good swap in anything baked. The recipe will work the same way; what changes is that berry jams read distinctly brighter and more perfumed where plum is dark and slightly earthy, and the colour goes red rather than purple-black. Seedless is worth choosing for smooth fillings. In a savoury glaze for pork or duck, berry jam is sweeter and thinner, so add a teaspoon of soy sauce or balsamic vinegar to bring back some of the depth plum jam gave the sauce.
5Apricot preserves
Different taste
Use the same amount
Golden apricot preserves, usually with soft pieces of fruit in a fairly firm set.
What changes
Best for
glazes on tarts and cakes, kolache, rugelach, sandwich cookies, ham glaze
The most useful swap when the jam is doing a structural job rather than a flavour job, because apricot preserves are typically thicker than plum jam and hold their shape in an oven. They are also the classic choice for brushing over a tart, which is exactly where a runny plum jam misbehaves. The tradeoff is obvious in appearance: the filling turns golden, which is a big visual change in a Linzer bar or a dark sachertorte. Flavour goes tangier and more floral, less winey.
6Plum sauce or Chinese plum sauce (savoury only)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount in savoury dishes, and cut any other sugar and vinegar in the recipe
A sweet-sour condiment of plums with vinegar, sugar, ginger, garlic and chilli.
What changes
Best for
pork and duck glazes, stir-fry sauces, dipping sauces, barbecue sauces, meatball glaze
Only reach for this in savoury cooking, but there it can be better than jam. It already contains the vinegar, ginger and often the chilli that you would otherwise be adding to a glaze, so a pork loin glazed with it tastes rounder and more complex than one glazed with plain jam. Because it is thinner and more acidic, reduce it for a few minutes to get a coating consistency, and taste before adding salt since most brands are quite salty. Never use it in a dessert; the garlic and vinegar are unmistakable in a sweet crumb.

What is Plum Jam?

Plum Jam is Plum jam is plums cooked with sugar until thick and spreadable, ranging from bright sweet-tart supermarket jam to the deep, almost purple-black damson and greengage jams of European baking.

Cooking tips

The reason fillings leak is water, not sweetness. Before piping any jam into pastry, simmer half a cup with a teaspoon of cornstarch for two or three minutes and cool it completely; it will hold its position instead of boiling out of the seam.
Plum jam varies enormously by origin. Damson, greengage and Italian prune plum jams are sharp and very dark; supermarket red plum jam is much sweeter and softer. Taste before you commit, and add lemon juice rather than sugar if it seems flat.
For a mirror glaze on a tart, warm any jam with a teaspoon of water and push it through a sieve. Sieving is what turns a lumpy fruit jam into a clean shiny coat, and it matters more than which fruit you used.
In savoury glazes, plum jam is doing sweetness plus acidity. If you swap in a sweeter jam, add a teaspoon of red wine vinegar or balsamic per two tablespoons of jam so the sauce does not turn candy-like on the meat.
If you are making jam to keep on the shelf rather than in the fridge, use a tested canning recipe exactly as written. Do not reduce the sugar, add extra fruit or swap in a lower-acid fruit, because the safety of the sealed jar depends on those ratios; the National Center for Home Food Preservation publishes tested versions.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave plum jam out?

If it is a filling or a topping, no, because it is the point of the mouthful. If it is a glaze brushed over a tart or a cake, yes, you simply lose the shine and a little sweetness, and you can brush the surface with warmed honey or a thin sugar syrup instead. In a savoury sauce, leaving it out means losing both sweetness and acidity, so add a teaspoon of sugar plus a teaspoon of vinegar to keep the balance.

What is the difference between plum jam, damson jam and prune butter?

Plum jam is made from ordinary plums and is fairly sweet with a soft set. Damson jam is made from small tart damsons, so it is much sharper and almost black, and it usually sets firmer. Prune butter, known as lekvar, is dried plums cooked to a stiff dark paste with little added sugar, and it is a filling rather than a spread. For pastry that must not leak, prune butter is the safest of the three; for toast or a glaze, plum or damson jam is what you want.

Can I use plum jam and plum sauce interchangeably?

Only in one direction and only in savoury food. Chinese plum sauce contains vinegar, sugar, ginger, garlic and often chilli, so it can stand in for plum jam in a pork glaze or a stir-fry if you reduce the other sugar and vinegar. Plum jam can also substitute for plum sauce if you add a tablespoon of rice vinegar, a little grated ginger and a pinch of five spice per quarter cup. Never put plum sauce in a dessert.

How do I make plum jam without pectin?

Plums, especially slightly underripe ones and damsons, carry enough natural pectin to set on their own. Simmer stoned chopped plums with about half their weight in sugar and a tablespoon of lemon juice per 500g, stirring often, for fifteen to twenty-five minutes. Test by chilling a spoonful on a cold plate: when it wrinkles as you push a finger through it, it is set. Treat it as a fridge jam, good for about two weeks, unless you are following a tested canning recipe.

Which jam works best in Linzer bars or kolache?

For Linzer, a dark tart jam keeps the contrast against the buttery nut pastry, so blackcurrant, damson or black cherry are the best swaps and raspberry is the easy fallback. For kolache and other filled doughs, choose stiffness over flavour: lekvar or prune butter, thick apricot preserves, or plum jam cooked down with a little cornstarch. A loose jam will boil out and burn on the tray.

Related substitutes

More preserves substitutes

Plum Jam substitute

Other plum jam substitutes

2Prune butter, lekvar or dried plum puree

3Quick plum jam from fresh or frozen plums

4Raspberry or blackberry jam

5Apricot preserves

6Plum sauce or Chinese plum sauce (savoury only)