How to make Powidl at home

In this article, you’ll find detailed instructions for making Powidl, a traditional Austrian plum butter, in the oven.

First, I bake the pitted plums in the oven at a low temperature for 3–4 hours, sprinkled with a little sugar. I then cook the Powidl down with apple juice, cinnamon, a little rum, and vanilla sugar.

Jump to:

• What is Powidl?
• Video
• Ingredients
• Equipment for Making Powidl in the Oven
• Detailled Instructions
• Recipes with Powidl jam
• How long does homemade Powidl keep?
• 🖨️ RECIPE:
• How to make Powidl at home

What is Powidl?

Powidl is a fruit spread made from plums that have been cooked down for a very long time. The long cooking or baking time transforms the plums into a thick, sticky, dark spread with a unique, delicate flavor. It is traditionally used as a filling for Germknödel (Yeast Dumplings), Powidltascherln, or Buchteln.

"Des is mir Powidl" is also an Austrian saying for "I don't care about this".

However, making Powidl is a very traditional way of preserving plums, and purists make it without any added sugar or spices. In many old recipes, the plums were cooked on the stovetop for 10–12 hours or even longer, either without or with constant stirring (I guess you can imagine the battles between the believers of each method...). Anyways, the ultimate goal was to prevent the Powidl from burning.

When prepared in the oven, as described below, the Powidl is much less likely to burn than when cooked in a pot and is ready in about 3–4 hours.

Video

Ingredients

Here you will find detailed information about the ingredients and possible alternatives. You can find the printable recipe at the bottom of the post:

For one 200 ml jar (about ¾ cup), you’ll need the following ingredients:

For the Powidl:

• 1.5 kg Italian plums, pitted (about 3.75 lbs; approximately 1.7 kg / 3.75 lbs with pits) - For the best Powidl, use Italian plums rather than large, juicy plums. Italian plums have less water and a naturally sweet, slightly tart flavor, which makes them ideal for cooking down into the thick, rich, intensely fruity consistency that traditional Powidl is known for. They also work especially well if you want to make Powidl with little or no added sugar.
  If there are no Italian plums in your local grocery store, it also works with regular plums.
• 150 g granulated sugar (about ¾ cup), optional.

For cooking down the Powidl, optional:

• 150 ml apple juice (about ⅔ cup)
• 1 teaspoon brown rum, I use Austrian Inländer Rum, 38% ABV
• 1 pkg (2 tsp) vanilla sugar
• Pinch of ground cinnamon

Equipment for Making Powidl in the Oven

For making Powidl in the oven, you’ll need the following equipment:

• Knife
• Cutting board
• Baking sheet
• Parchment paper
• Spatula, for stirring and scraping the finished Powidl from the baking sheet
• Saucepan
• Jam funnel
• Sterilized canning jars and lids

Detailled Instructions

Here’s a detailed step-by-step guide with photos.

Step 1:

Wash, pit, and quarter the Italian plums. Spread them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Step 2:

Optionally sprinkle with sugar; this adds a caramel note.

Step 3:

Bake at 140°C (285°F) convection / 160°C (320°F) conventional gas oven for 3–4 hours. Stir the plums every 30–60 minutes to prevent the plums around the edges from burning.

Step 4:

Scrape the finished Powidl from the baking sheet.

The Powidl is ready when the plums have cooked down into a dark, almost black or deep purple, thick and slightly firm, sticky mixture, but are not burnt.

Info: If you prefer your Powidl lighter in color and less thick, or if you want to make sure it doesn’t burn, you can take it out of the oven a little earlier, while it is still more reddish in color and somewhat softer, as shown in the photos below:

Alternative: You can also transfer the Powidl directly into sterilized jars as soon as it comes out of the oven. The additional cooking with apple juice and spices, as I do in the next step, gives the Powidl a creamier consistency and adds more flavor, but it is not absolutely necessary!

Step 6:

Transfer to a pot and simmer with the apple juice, rum, vanilla sugar, and cinnamon for about 5 minutes.

Step 7:

While still hot, fill sterilized screw-top jars using a funnel and seal with sterilized lids.

If you're unsure about shelf life, you can optionally process the sealed jars in a second canning process.

(More about sterilizing your canning equipment here.)

Recipes with Powidl jam

You can use Powidl anywhere you would use jam: as a spread, to sweeten yogurt and other desserts, in pastries like strudels, or even in cakes.

The following pastries and dishes are traditionally made or served with Powidl, among others:

Germknödel (Steamed Yeast Dumplings)

Powidltascherl (plum-filled pastries with potato dough)

Rahmdalken (some kind of pancakes made with sour cream batter)

Böhmische Liwanzen (some kind of pancakes with yeast dough)

Buchteln (Baked Yeast Dumplings)

You can find more recipes with Powidl in this article.

How long does homemade Powidl keep?

If you worked cleanly and filled the Powidl into sterilized jars, it should keep for about a year.

Unfortunately, there are no guarantees, so always rely on your senses after opening: does it smell the way it should? Do you see any mold? If so, do not use it.

Store opened jars in the refrigerator and consume within a few weeks.

(More about sterilizing your canning equipment here.)

🖨️ RECIPE: