Powidla, Polish Slow-Cooked Plum and Apple Butter
Powidla is the Polish plum butter cooked down over hours in autumn, traditionally with no sugar at all because the plums are simply reduced until their own sweetness concentrates. Prunes, which are nothing more than dried plums, let you make it any time of year and give the same dark, jammy depth. Cooked with apple for body and warm spices for the classic scent, then reduced slowly until it turns almost black and holds a trail on the spoon, it becomes a thick, glossy preserve with nothing added but fruit. Lemon at the end keeps it from cloying. Spoon it over porridge, spread it on crispbread, or stuff it into a baked apple; it keeps for weeks in the fridge.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Prunes, pitted
- 2 wholes Apples, peeled, cored, chopped
- 1/2 tsp cassia cinnamon
- 2 wholes Cloves
- 2 wholes Allspice
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
Method
- Combine the prunes, apples, cloves, allspice, and 2 cups (475 ml) water in a heavy pot. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until the fruit is completely soft, about 20 minutes. Prunes are simply dried plums, so they carry the deep, dark plum flavor of true powidla while bringing their own concentrated sweetness, which is why the preserve needs no sugar.
- Fish out the whole cloves and allspice berries, then blend the fruit smooth or mash it hard against the pot. Removing the whole spices before blending keeps stray sharp bits out of the smooth butter while leaving their warmth behind.
- Return the puree to low heat and cook uncovered, stirring often as it thickens and darkens, until a spoon dragged across the bottom leaves a trail that holds, 30 to 40 minutes. This long, patient reduction is the entire technique: the sugars in the fruit slowly caramelize and the color deepens to near-black, which is where powidla gets its flavor and its keeping quality. Lower the heat as it thickens so it does not sputter or scorch.
- Stir in the cinnamon and lemon juice at the end. Adding cinnamon late keeps it bright, and the lemon lifts a very sweet, dense preserve and keeps it from cloying. Cool completely; it firms to a sliceable thickness as it sits.
- Spoon into a clean jar and keep in the fridge. Use it as a spread on dark whole-grain bread or crispbread, a swirl through morning porridge, or a filling for baked apples. It keeps for a couple of weeks refrigerated.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 90 calories, 1 g protein, 3 g fiber, 15 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
