Powidl – Austrian Plum Butter with No Added Sugar
Real Austrian Powidl: nothing but very ripe prune plums, slow-reduced in the oven until dark, glossy and spreadably thick. No added sugar, no pectin, no stirring marathon - the hands-off method, plus the doneness test that tells you exactly when to stop.
Ingredients
Powidl
- 2 kg Prune Plums (Zwetschgen) as ripe as you can find - wrinkly is good
- 1 Cinnamon Stick optional
- 2 Cloves optional
- 1 Tbsp Rum optional, stirred in at the end
Instructions
Prepare (the evening before)
- Halve and stone the plums. No peeling - the skins carry colour, pectin and most of the flavour.
- Layer the plums in a wide, heavy roasting dish or Dutch oven, cover tightly with foil (fruit flies find cut fruit fast in a warm kitchen), and leave overnight at room temperature - or in the fridge if it is very hot. By morning they will be sitting in their own juice - this kick-starts the reduction and is why no water is ever needed.
Reduce
- Heat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan). Slide the dish in uncovered, with the spices tucked in if using. Stir once every hour, scraping the edges where it darkens first. No lid, no water, no sugar.
- Cook 3½–5 hours, depending on how juicy the plums are. The mass will collapse, darken from purple to deep mahogany, and thicken until a spoon dragged through leaves a trail that holds.
Finish
- The plate test: put a spoonful on a cold plate and tilt it. Real Powidl stands as a glossy mound with no ring of liquid running ahead of it. If juice runs, give it another 30–45 minutes.
- Fish out the spices. Leave it rustic, or blitz briefly with a stick blender for a smooth filling consistency (do this for Germknödel and pastry fillings). Stir in the rum if using.
- Spoon boiling-hot into sterilised jars, seal, and turn upside down for 10 minutes. Unopened jars keep for months in a cool cupboard; opened, weeks in the fridge.
Notes
The riper the plums, the sweeter the Powidl - late-season fruit that is starting to wrinkle is ideal. Mine (ordinary Cyprus supermarket plums) needed no sugar at all. If yours taste sharper than you like, stir in a teaspoon of erythritol at the end to sweeten while keeping it sugar-free. Burnt edges mean the oven is too hot or the dish too deep: wide and shallow is the rule.
