Plums, and more plums

My plum trees are very productive this year. So far, I have canned spiced plums, plums with orange liqueur, and plum butter. I have also made a plum candy (a kind of pâtes de fruits, aka fruit jellies) and lemon verbena plum ice cream. The former is just mixture of plums and sugar, about 1 cup of sugar for each pound of plums. I pit the plums, puree them in a food processor, and combine with the sugar in a big microwave-safe bowl. The mixture is microwaved until very thick, spread in a sheet pan, cooled, cut in squares and dipped in sugar processed with orange rind. You could cook this on top of the stove, but would have to stir like crazy to keep it from scorching. The microwave is similarly a boon when making fruit butters.

I loved the lemon verbena prune ice cream, which was a beautiful deep pink color:

About 1 cup fresh lemon verbena (leaves and/or soft stems) 

2 cups half and half 

1/2 lb plums, halved and pitted

2 tablespoons sugar 

4 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar

Combine the lemon verbena and half and half in saucepan and bring to simmer. Remove from heat and let steep 30-60 minutes. Meanwhile, puree the plums and 2 Tbsp. sugar in a blender or food processor; refrigerate.

Pick big pieces of lemon verbena out of half and half and bring the half and half back to a simmer. Beat the egg yolks and remaining sugar together in a medium bowl. Slowly, beating constantly, add the hot half and half to the egg yolk mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan and heat only until the mixture thickens slightly. It should reach about 170 degrees and coat the back of a spoon; do not let it boil. Strain it into the pureed plum mixture and refrigerate until thoroughly cold. Freeze according to your ice cream maker's directions. Bon appetit!