Sunday 20th August 2023

Anyone who has ever eaten any traditional Moravian frgaly or Honzovy bychty (John’s cakes) will know what povidla is.  It is a very thick dark blue jam paste, which is made from juicy plums with sugar and spices and used as a filling in cakes. 

When my daddy died nearly 16 years ago, Steve planted a plum tree for us to remember him by as he loved plums very much – not for plum jam making though, but for plum brandy making. Each year the tree never fails to give us a big crop to enjoy. 

The original recipe for povidla states cooking all day long in a big pot boiling and stirring for hours. I never attempted it, until now. I found a super easy recipe for baked povidla so I gave it a try.  I can now recommend it to anyone for sure as it was quick, with a few simple steps to follow. Within 2 hours, I had 4 small jars of plum jam from the 2kg of plums I picked from our tree. The colour is not as dark as hoped for, but I am sure it will taste yummy in the cakes I will make with it in the future. I did use a proper rum, so it better be good!

Rennie