Top 7 Eastern European Plum Recipes

By Barbara Rolek

Updated 10/28/17

Eastern Europeans are fresh fruit lovers and plums find their way into a dizzying array of recipes. The most common plum used is the damson, a small, oval bluish-purple fruit with tart greenish-yellow flesh. When the tart fruit is married with sugar, it produces the sweet-tart taste Eastern Europeans are famous for, and damsons are the only plum to use for slivovitz making! Damsons are typically harvested in late August and early September, but other plum varieties will work in the following...MORE recipes, so give them a go.

  • 01 of 07
    Rustic Plum Tart Recipe
    Rustic Plum Tart
    Rustic Plum Tart. © 2011 Barbara Rolek licensed to About.com, Inc.

    This rustic plum tart is similar to a French galette. What it boils down to is a one-crust pie that's easy to make.

  • 02 of 07
    Hungarian Plum Dumplings Recipe - Szilvas Gombóc
    Hungarian Plum Dumplings
    Hungarian Plum Dumplings. © Maggiehc on Flickr.

    Nearly every Slavic and Balkan country has its version of plum dumplings. In this Hungarian recipe, the dough is made with mashed potatoes.

  • 03 of 07
    Croatian Plum Dumplings Recipe - Knedle s Šljivama
    Croatian Plum Dumplings
    Croatian Plum Dumplings. © 2011 Barbara Rolek licensed to About.com, Inc.

    Croatian plum dumplings are also made with a mashed-potato dough and breaded and sauteed in butter after boiling.

  • 04 of 07
    Polish Plum Cake Recipe - Placek z Śliwkami
    Plum Cake
    Plum Cake. © Bougi on Flickr

    This plum cake comes together quickly and the juices from the fruit penetrate the crumb, making everything nice and moist. Just add a dollop of whipped cream and you'll be transported to another time and place. A good place!

    Continue to 5 of 7 below.
  • 05 of 07
    Polish Plum Butter Recipe - Powidla Śliwkowe
    Polish Plum Butter
    Polish Plum Butter. © Mcotner on Flickr

    This popular spread is made with only two ingredients -- plums and sugar. When they are cooked down, they turn a pleasant brown color making one think they are eating prune butter. But, no, this is made with fresh plums. Damsons are preferred.

  • 06 of 07
    Sweet Plum Pierogi Filling
    Plum Pierogi
    Plum Pierogi. © 2011 Barbara Rolek licensed to About.com, Inc.

    This filling recipe requires no cooking. Fresh plums, preferably damson or small Italian prune plums, are pitted and the cavity is filled with sugar. That's it. Then they're enveloped with the pierogi dough of your choice, boiled and sautéed in butter.

  • 07 of 07
    Low-Sugar Spiced Plum Jam Recipe
    Spiced Plum Jam
    Spiced Plum Jam. © Ann@74 on Flickr.

    This recipe calls for less than half the amount of sugar used in a conventional recipe and it cooks up quickly so the fresh fruit taste comes shining through. A no-sugar or low-sugar pectin is required. This spiced plum jam can be refrigerated for up to three weeks or frozen for up to one year. If you decide to process this jam in a water bath so you can store it at room temperature for up to one year, follow these step-by-step canning instructions from the Ball canning jars company.