Top 7 Eastern European Plum Recipes

Written by
Barbara Rolek
Barbara Rolek is a former chef who became a cooking school instructor and award-winning food writer.
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Barbara Rolek
Updated 06/26/19

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 recipes, so give them a go.

  • 01 of 07

    Rustic Plum Tart

    Rustic Plum Tart

    The Spruce / Barbara Rolek

    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 (Szilvas Gombóc)

    Hungarian Plum Dumplings

    Maggiehc / Flickr / All Rights Reserved

    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 (Knedle s Šljivama)

    Croatian Plum Dumplings

    The Spruce / Barbara Rolek

    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 (Placek z Śliwkami)

    Plum Cake

    Bougi / 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 (Powidla Śliwkowe)

    Polish Plum Butter

    Mcotner / 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

    The Spruce / Barbara Rolek

    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

    Spiced Plum Jam

    Anna / Flickr / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

    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.