Roasted Plums (Candied, Just 2 Ingredients)
Roasted plums, also called candied plums, are Italian prune plums baked in sugar until the cut sides turn dark and glossy and the pan fills with ruby syrup. The syrup that collects underneath is my favorite part, and the trick to getting lots of it happens 20 minutes in. Let me show you how.
If you have a flat of Italian prune plums to get through, these are the other places they end up in my kitchen: plum galette with almond cream, plum crumble bars, and Italian plum jam.
Why You’ll Love These Roasted Plums
Two ingredients, one pan, and the fruit does something completely different from what it does raw.
- It’s tangy and sweet – the flesh strikes a good balance between the sweetness of the plums and sugar and the tartness the skins give off as they roast.
- They hold their shape – roasting with sugar turns them jammy without falling apart, so they look beautiful on anything. Serve them with yogurt, on whipped cream with cake crumbs, or with chopped hazelnuts or roasted sliced almonds for a gluten-free dessert.
- A lot of fruit in very little space – they shrink down hard in the oven, so a full 16×21-inch sheet pan packed with plums cooks down to about 3 pint jars. If you are short on freezer and pantry room, that matters.
- They last – three weeks in the fridge under their syrup, or a full year in the pantry once they are canned.
Ingredients for Roasted Plums
You only need two, so the kind of plum you pick matters more than usual. Amounts are in the recipe card at the bottom.
- Italian prune plums: pick firm ones, because soft fruit slumps flat over an hour-long roast. Try to keep them a similar size so the whole pan finishes at once.
- Granulated sugar: the cheap white kind does this best. Brown sugar and honey both darken and catch long before the fruit is ready.
- Cinnamon or cardamom (optional): in the fall I like a little sprinkled on with the sugar, or a star anise pod tucked between the plums. Ground spice clings to the sugar better than whole. Leave it out for pure plum flavor.
How to Make Roasted Plums (Step-by-Step)
The whole thing happens on one sheet pan, with a saucepan going on the side for the syrup.
- Heat the oven to 325F and line a 16×21-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
- Halve and pit the plums, then set them cut side up on the pan in a single snug layer.
- Sprinkle about a third of the sugar over the open faces and bake for 20 minutes.
- Pour the juice off into a small saucepan as soon as those 20 minutes are up. That first pour is most of the liquid the plums will give up, and it has to leave the pan before the tops will brown.
- Reduce that juice by half over medium heat until it thickens and coats a spoon, then set it aside.
- Add more sugar over the plums and keep baking for about 60 minutes total from the time the pan went in.
💡 TIP: The rims tell you when they are ready. They pull inward and wrinkle as the cut faces darken. A pan of smaller plums can hit that ten minutes early, so start looking at 45. - Sugar the plums lightly one last time for the final 10 minutes, adding the spice now if you are using it, then turn the oven up to 450F for the last 5 so the tops caramelize.
- Cool them on the pan, add any juice that drained out late to the reduced syrup, then spoon the plums into jars and pour the syrup over.
Marina’s Pro Tips for the Best Candied Plums
- Drain at 20 minutes. The pan holds the most liquid, so don’t wait until the end; fruit sitting in liquid poaches instead of browning.
- Sugar in three passes. One heavy dose slides off the domed faces into the pan. Three light ones stay where the color forms.
- Finish at 450F. Those last 5 minutes are what darken the tops. Run the whole bake at 325F, and they stay pale.
- Thicken the syrup in a saucepan. Spread thin across a sheet pan; it scorches at the rim long before the middle comes together.
- Pack the halves snug. A crowded pan keeps the edges from drying out, and they shrink a lot anyway.
- Use firm-ripe plums. Soft ones slump into the syrup and lose the shape that makes these worth eating with a fork.
Ways to Serve Roasted Plums
A jar of these covers breakfast and dessert for the week, and the syrup gets used up faster than the fruit does.
- Spooned over oatmeal, yogurt, or syrniki for breakfast.
- On top of a roasted plum pavlova or a plain cheesecake, with the syrup drizzled over at the table.
- With vanilla ice cream, warm, so the syrup loosens.
- On ricotta toast, or next to sharp cheese on a board.
- Folded into blini or crepes with a little sour cream.
The syrup on its own is worth saving. Use it in soda water, over pancakes, or brushed on a cake layer before frosting.
How to Can Roasted Plums
Want jars for the pantry? Roast the plums exactly as above, then can them while they are still hot. Plums have enough acid for a water-bath canner, so no pressure canner is needed.
- Get the canner hot while the plums roast. Set the rack in a water-bath canner, fill it with water and bring it to a simmer. Wash pint or quart jars, new lids and bands in hot, soapy water, then keep the jars in the simmering water until you fill them. No need to sterilize them first: they process for 20 minutes or more, and anything processed for 10 minutes or longer is sterilized right in the canner.
- Keep the plums and syrup hot. Skip the cooling in step 8 and bring the reduced syrup back to a boil. Hot fruit and hot syrup going into hot jars keeps the glass from cracking.
- Pack the plums loosely into the jars, straight from the pan.
- Cover them with the hot syrup, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. If you run short, top up with a light sugar syrup. Run a thin spatula around the inside of each jar to free trapped air, then top up again if the level drops.
- Wipe the rims with a clean, damp towel, center the lids and screw the bands on fingertip-tight.
- Process in the water bath. Lower the jars in so the water covers them by 1 to 2 inches, and start the timer once it is back to a full rolling boil:
- 0 to 1,000 feet: pints 20 minutes, quarts 25 minutes
- 1,001 to 3,000 feet: pints 25 minutes, quarts 30 minutes
- 3,001 to 6,000 feet: pints 30 minutes, quarts 35 minutes
- Above 6,000 feet: pints 35 minutes, quarts 40 minutes
- Let the jars rest in the canner for 5 minutes with the heat off and the lid removed, then lift them straight up onto a towel. Leave them alone for 12 to 24 hours.
- Check the seals. Press the center of each lid; if it doesn’t flex, it sealed. A jar that didn’t seal goes in the fridge.
The processing times are the tested times for canning plums; roasting them first is my adaptation.
How to Store Roasted Plums
Fridge: pack them into clean jars, pour the syrup over so the fruit is covered, and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks. The syrup protects them, so keep them submerged.
Freezer: freeze in jars or containers with the syrup for up to 6 months, leaving room at the top for expansion. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
Canning: sealed jars keep in a cool, dark pantry for up to a year. The full method is in How to Can Roasted Plums above.
Make it ahead
These are better on day two than on day one. The syrup soaks in overnight and the flavor rounds out, so make them a day or two before you need them.
A few things come up every plum season, so here are the answers before you start.
Roasted Plums FAQ
Mine came out pale and soupy. What went wrong?
The liquid never left the pan. Plums release a surprising amount of liquid in the first 20 minutes, and once they are sitting in it the oven is steaming them rather than browning them. Pour it off, reduce it separately, and put it back at the end.
What kind of plums work best?
Italian prune plums, the small oval ones that show up in late summer. They are dense, low in water, and freestone, so the halves come off the pit clean and keep their shape through a long roast.
Will the big supermarket plums work?
Yes, with two adjustments. They hold more water, so expect to pour off more juice and add 10 to 15 minutes in the oven. They are also clingstone, so you will be cutting around the pit instead of twisting the halves apart.
Is this just preserves under another name?
Jam is cooked down until the fruit breaks apart and sets. These stay in halves, roast rather than boil, and sit in a loose syrup. Different texture, different job, and these are considerably less work.
Can I use less sugar?
You can cut it by a quarter and still get a good result, a little tarter and a little looser. Go much below that and there is not enough sugar to pull the juice out or to set into a syrup, and you end up with soft roasted fruit instead.
Should the skins come off first?
No, and I would not. The skins are where most of the tartness and all of the color live, and they soften right down in the oven.
More Plum Recipes to Try
Three weeks a year and then they are gone. These are the ones I keep going back to.
Plum Galette with Almond Cream
Plums packed tight over almond cream in a free-form crust. No tart pan needed.
Plum Crumble Bars
Buttery shortbread base, plum layer, streusel on top. They cut clean and travel well.
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Roasted Plums (Candied, Just 2 Ingredients)
Ingredients
- 80 Italian prune plums Halved and pitted, about 5 lb (2.3 kg), enough to pack the sheet
- 1 1/8 cup granulated sugar Divided, for three sprinklings
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon or cardamom Optional
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 325F and line a 16x21-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
-
Halve and pit 80 Italian prune plums and set them cut side up, packed tight in a single layer across the whole sheet.
-
Sprinkle about a third of the sugar over the open faces and bake for 20 minutes.
-
Pour the juice off into a small saucepan as soon as those 20 minutes are up. Do not leave it in the pan or the plums steam instead of caramelizing. (Note 1)
-
Reduce that juice by half over medium heat until it thickens and coats a spoon, then set it aside.
-
Add more sugar over the plums and keep baking, about 60 minutes total from the time the pan went in. (Note 2)
-
Sugar the plums lightly one last time for the final 10 minutes, adding the spice now if you are using it, then turn the oven up to 450F for the last 5 so the tops caramelize.
-
Cool them on the pan, stir any late juices into the reduced syrup, then spoon the plums into jars and pour the syrup over. Makes about 3 pint jars. (Note 3)
Recipe Notes
- Draining: the plums give up most of their liquid in the first 20 minutes. Pour it off then, not at the end, or they poach instead of browning.
- Judging doneness: go by the plums rather than the clock. They want to be soft with lightly caramelized tops before the final 450F blast.
- Storing: keep them covered in syrup in the fridge up to 3 weeks, or freeze up to 6 months. For the pantry, pack them hot into clean, hot jars with 1/2-inch headspace and water-bath pints 20 minutes or quarts 25 minutes up to 1,000 feet; add time at higher altitudes (full chart in the post above). If you run short on syrup, top up with a light syrup of 1 1/4 cups sugar boiled with 5 1/2 cups water.
- Plum variety: Italian prune plums hold their shape best. Round plums carry more water, so pour off more juice and add 10 to 15 minutes.
- Sugar: you can cut it by about a quarter for a tarter, looser result. Much below that and there is not enough to draw the juice out or set a syrup.
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