Plum Jam & Plum Torte

Learn how to make two delicious treats using plums with local baker Heidi Leuszler of Berries & Flour. Heidi will teach you how to process plums for different purposes, then walk you through making a scrumptious plum torte and plum jam. 

I grew up the daughter of parents with wanderlust who believed that culinary experiences were among the best ways to know a place. We harvested wherever we lived; mangoes in Florida, morels and mustang grapes from the back acre in Missouri, wild strawberries and holly grapes in the Colorado mountains, and chokecherries in North Dakota. We traveled the world, dined in people's homes and ate from hedgerows & tidepools & local markets. As we moved through a delicious world, my mother taught me to preserve seasonal bounty, and be adventurous with flavor pairings from the myriad of places I have lived and visited.

My husband and I purchased a home on 7 acres of rich loam soil, and we promptly planted native prairie, trees, and wildflowers, an orchard, berries, asparagus, and a "Midwest Hedgerow". I now prepare seasonal dishes based on what grows in the backyard and on local farms. As a professor of ecology and botany at Parkland College and sometimes the University of Illinois, I have continued to learn more about native plants, ethnobotany and agriculture. All of these experiences have helped me to become an advocate of food security based on a local food supply.

Recently, I decided to start a small bakery that is the synergy of all of these passions for me; culinary skills, ecology of native landscapes, growing of plants, foraging for wild foods, and teaching people about the plentiful Midwest land.