I fell prey to the charms of the Italian plum again this year. It took an almond, plum and orange cake from the River Café Easy book, where those pretty purple things really sang their little hearts out. They’re in season so I’ve been stockpiling.

Yesterday I spun some into some plum butter, partly based on a recipe for the classic Polish powidla ze sliwek in my Time-Life Preserving book and partly based on this one from Epicurious.com. Inspired by that River Café cake, I added orange juice and zest. The result made my apartment smell like lovely nimble plums dancing around in orange tutus.

Slightly orangey plum butter

4 lbs plums, sliced into small-ish segments (about 12 cups)

1 vanilla pod

1 cup of sugar

1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

Zest of one orange

Put all ingredients into a big pot (having split open the vanilla pod and stirred the seeds into the mixture). Cook over medium heat (a healthy simmer) for 25-30 minutes until you have a fragrant, deeply coloured, bubbling fruit soup.

Run the mixture through a food mill (this is the proper way), or do as I did – only if, like me, you’re not fussed about having bits of plum peel in there – and use a hand-held blender to purée the stuff, once you’ve taken it off the heat, of course.

Continue cooking the purée for another 30-40 minutes or so over low heat until the consistency is quite thick and gloopy. Then process in hot, clean jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Full disclosure/shocking confession: I burnt the hell out of my first batch. Second time around was fine. For those new to slow-cooked fruit butters, let this be a warning – do not walk away and, say, start replying to a few emails while it cooks. For your delicate, silky fruit concoction will quickly turn against you! Keep a watchful eye and stir often and you will be rewarded with a smooth operator with a rich and sexy fruit flavour that will completely blow your mind (and your socks clear off).