Use the wonderful Danish plums

Well into the Danish autumn, sweet fruits are in abundance. These beautiful fruits are ideal in, for example, tarts, juices, jams, chutneys, and salads. Plums are related to peaches, apricots, and cherries, and come in many different varieties. Depending on the variety, they can vary in size, firmness, color, and flavor. Plums can be harvested all the way into October, and if you want to save some for later in the year, they can easily be frozen - though it is a good idea to remove the pits first. Read on below and discover our best plum recipes for both savory and sweet cooking.

“ Plums originally come from Western Asia and are believed to have grown in the Nordic region since the Viking Age. The sweet stone fruit is related to peaches, apricots, and cherries, and comes in many different varieties.

Opal plums

Green bean salad with Opal plums, feta, and almonds

Use seasonal plums

The plum season is short here at home and in most other European countries. And the ones you can get out of season taste like almost nothing. So enjoy them while they are here in August and September. Truly sun-ripened ones are especially delicious paired with salty feta and toasted almonds.

Opal plums

Salad of new parsley roots with Reine Claude plums, grains, and hazelnut dressing

Use the wonderful Danish plums

Danish Reine Claude plums, one of our very best plum varieties, are harvested in late August and early September and have a round, intense plum flavor with plenty of sweetness. They share their season with new parsley roots, which are juicy and firm at this time of year. You can easily swap in other types of root vegetables, nuts, plums, grains, and herbs in this salad.

Danish plums

Plums can be a mixed pleasure if they are not properly ripe. Steer well clear of hard, imported ones, and always go for Danish plums in season—right when they are at their sweetest, most aromatic, and juiciest. Fortunately, the season is long.

The first plum varieties ripen in late July, and the season can sometimes extend all the way into October if the weather allows. Our cool climate produces highly aromatic, sweet plums with a good level of acidity, making them well suited for both sweet and savory cooking.

Look out for some of the excellent old varieties such as Kirkes, sveske (prune plums), and Reine Claude. Enjoy the plums fresh as they are, or mix them into fruit salads, bake them with a little sugar and serve with skyr or buttermilk, use them in cakes, or cook them into chutney, ketchup, jam, fruit porridge, compote, or juice.

Plum chutney

1 preserving jar
6 plums
1 onion
75 g sugar
1 star anise
5 coriander seeds
5 fennel seeds
Sea salt
100 ml apple cider vinegar or another good vinegar
Freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp good olive oil

Remove the stones from the plums and cut the flesh into coarse chunks. Peel the onion and finely chop it. Caramelize the sugar in a pot. Add the finely chopped onion and spices, and sprinkle with a little salt so the onions release some liquid and the caramel doesn’t burn. When the onions have softened, add the vinegar, freshly ground pepper, and the diced plums. Let the chutney simmer for about 10 minutes until it becomes a thick compote, then remove it from the heat and stir in the olive oil.

Transfer the chutney to a sterilized jar and store it in a cool place, where it will keep for 3–4 months unopened.

Fire favoritter

Plum muffins

Plum juice

Autumn salad with roasted plums and chestnuts

Caramelized apple tart

How to find plums in the wild

Do you want to get your hands on wild Danish plums? Then try looking for mirabelles, which - with their yellow or red color and small size - are easy to recognize.

Here are a few tips on how to find and identify them:

This juicy stone fruit can be found growing wild or planted in thickets, along hedgerows, or in old farm gardens.
The fruits, which ripen in August and early September, grow on a large shrub or a small tree that can reach up to 15 meters in height
The fruits are typically no larger than big cherries
Mirabelles have a sweet flavor and are therefore great for jams and fruit porridge. You can also eat them raw straight from the tree.

Mirabelle jam

Mirabelles

Use the wonderful Danish plums

Mirabelles are a collective term for small, early-ripening red and yellow plums, which are very often found growing wild or planted in thickets, hedgerows, and old farm gardens. Mirabelles grow as vigorous shrubs or as trees up to 10 meters tall, often with distinct thorns on their branches. Individual trees cross-pollinate, creating a wide variety of flavor profiles. Some mirabelles are low in acidity, so you may need to adjust your preparations with cider vinegar or lemon juice, regardless of what the recipe suggests. In most cases, mirabelles can be used as a substitute for plums. Here you will find an easy recipe for mirabelle jam.