Categories: Garden-to-Table

How to Make Wild Plum Sorbet

By Published On: July 13, 2015
How to Make Wild Plum Sorbet

wild plums

 

Who needs store bought when you can pick them for free? It’s a marvel really.

These wild plums can be found peppering hillsides, gardens and parks in the San Francisco Bay Area. They’re abundant and generally overlooked. There’s so much fruit for the taking and most of it is left to the birds or falls uneaten, virtually unnoticed.

It’s true, they’re equally as tart as they are sweet and one can eat only so many in one sitting, but they make excellent jam, chutney and sorbet — which always tastes better when made with fruit you’ve picked yourself. There’s something thrilling about gathering fruit or greens from your backyard or neighborhood, eating some on the spot and taking the rest home to be added to a recipe.

 

Wild Plums

 

In truth, these particular plums are feral — wild, but escaped from cultivated landscapes — and not native to California but to China. Though we call them Asian or Japanese Plums because they came to the states with the Japanese in the late 1800’s.

There are several varieties to choose from with variation due to open pollination. The dominate varieties are Prunus salicina, P. mume and P. cerasifera (including the purple leaf variety). You’ll find them all, here and there and ripe for the picking in May, June and into July.

If food growing on trees were a new discovery, it would be called a miracle.

 

wild plums

 

My first go-to with plums is sorbet. It’s the perfect mix of flavors, made savory because of the blend of tart and sweet. So that’s what’s on the menu and what doesn’t go into the first batch is prepped and stored in the freezer for the next round.

Wild Plum Sorbet

What You Need:

  • Containers or pockets for fresh picked fruit (transportation home)
  • 1 cherry pitter
  • 2 1/2 cups pitted plums
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp Grand Marnier (optional)
  • Blender
  • Ice-cream maker

What You Do:

  • Wash and pit the plums using a cherry pitter. This tool is essential, making an impossible job possible, because the fruit adheres to the seed.
  • Using a blender, puree the plums, sugar and lemon juice until smooth. You can strain off the skin if you like, but I prefer to use the whole fruit. It’s what gives it character.
  • If you’re using Grand Marnier, add it now, right before you go to churn it in your ice-cream machine. The Grand Marnier adds a small bit of flavor and keeps the sorbet from becoming icy when storing it in the fridge, which isn’t an issue if you plan to eat it right away.
  • Churn for about 25 to 30 minutes or according to the ice-cream machine instructions. Don’t be tempted to stop half-way, it may look ready but the extra time ensures consistency and your sorbet will hold up better when churned longer.
  • Serve immediately.
  • Garnish with Lemon Verbena or another herb on-hand.

 

wild plums

 

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About the Author: Emily Murphy

I’ve learned there’s something wonderfully powerful in the simple act of growing. Here, in our gardens, we can repair ourselves and our plots of earth with our own two hands. GROW WHAT YOU LOVE and GROW NOW!

7 Comments

  1. Linda P August 21, 2021 at 3:20 pm - Reply

    Was looking for something to do with my new discovery of wild plums at our farm! I will do this TODAY!!! Thank you SO MUCH!

    • Emily Murphy August 22, 2021 at 5:38 am - Reply

      You’re welcome! Happy it’s helpful and I hope you enjoy! :)

  2. […] Wild Plum Sorbet […]

  3. Renee Fuller July 23, 2015 at 1:26 pm - Reply

    This sounds amazing and now wish I knew where some wild plums were. Have eaten one since I lived in the Midwest over 12 years ago. I want to save this for later so if I ever find some I can make this sorbet!

    • Emily Murphy July 23, 2015 at 1:57 pm - Reply

      Thank you! Love the combo of tart and sweet. Where are you now? Midwest to east coast there are native, wild plums to be found. Or maybe you could substitute? Let me know if you come up with another tasty version. :D

  4. Bren Haas July 22, 2015 at 12:58 pm - Reply

    I love this … can’t wait to try this on a hot summers evening!

    • Emily Murphy July 23, 2015 at 6:50 am - Reply

      Wonderful! Glad this is on your list! Hopefully fruit picking is too? Let me know if you try the same recipe with other types of fruit. Would be fun to compile a “sorbet — best of” recipes. :D

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