Plum and Ginger Soda

With so many plums (and stone fruits in general) coming into our home by way of our Santa Rosa plum tree and CSA shares, I've been trying to come up with original ways to serve them to the family. When this Plum and Ginger Soda came up in one of my online hunting sessions, I had to give it a try...

The combination of sweet plums and spicy ginger is so delicious. Throw in a little bit of pear vodka, and you have yourself a cocktail!

These were our "red, white & blue" drinks for the 4th of July.

Before we get to the recipe, I'm going to dissect it a little bit. The recipe states it will make 2 drinks but doesn't state what size glasses to serve them in. As I cook/bake more and more with fresh produce, a specified weight is much easier to work with than a quantity since size varies in nature. I also found it slightly annoying that it didn't say how much plum syrup there should be once completed. That said, I doubled the recipe, adding additional plums since mine were on the small side, and to increase the plum flavor. I then cooked down to 1/2 to 3/4 the original amount. Alternately, you could just use less water...

This will most certainly be made again, and I'll take notes next time on recipe adjustments. For now, here's the original...

Plum and Ginger Soda, from Diana at Appetite for China 

Makes 2 drinks

2 ripe plums, skin on, chopped
2 cups water
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
3/4 cup sugar
1 can club soda

Bring water to a boil. Toss in chopped plums, reduce heat, and simmer until plums are cooked and mushy, and liquid is bright red, about 15 to 20 minutes. In the last 5 minutes of simmering, toss in ginger slices.

Turn off heat and stir in sugar until fully dissolved. Let Cool. Strain liquid and discard solids.

Add ice cubes to each glass and fill with plum syrup to two thirds of the way. Top with club soda, give each glass a stir, and serve.