Plumsicle™ Ice Cream!

If you’ve tasted our proprietary HMC Farms® Plumsicle™, you already know that the flavor is unlike any other piece of fruit. The taste reminds us of a frozen treat from the ice cream truck on a hot summer day, and we were inspired to create our own version of that creamy, frosty goodness in our farm kitchen to get us through this heat wave. We know it’s hard not to eat Plumsicles when they’re right in front of you, so grab an extra bag to snack on while you make this Plumsicle ice cream.

 

We used our home ice cream maker for this recipe. You may need to adjust the portions depending on the size of your ice cream maker.

Ingredients: two bottles of milk, bowl of cut plums, 3 brown eggs, bowl of sugar, bowl of vanilla, salt grinder on white marble surface

Ingredients:

  • 1 bag of HMC Farms Plumsicle, pits removed (about 2lbs)
  • Half and half – ¼ gallon + 1 cup
  • 1 cup sugar
  • Splash of vanilla
  • Pinch of salt

 

Start by rinsing off your Plumsicles and carefully remove the pits. We like to leave the skin on for little pockets of extra Plumsicle flavor, but if you can’t come to terms with the skin in your ice cream it’s okay to remove it. Place all of the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. If you want some Plumsicle chunks, try blending all of the other ingredients first, and then adding Plumsicle and using the pulse blend option to leave some chunks. Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and use the manufacturer’s instructions. That’s it! An easy path to homemade Plumsicle ice cream that will make you look like a seasoned confectioner.

Waffle bowl containing two scoops of pink ice cream on multi-colored striped background, purple towel and 3 plums in frame

Watch us make this recipe here.

 

Don’t have an ice cream maker, or looking for a dairy-free option? Check out this recipe for Plumsicle ice pops and wine pops from The Produce Moms!

For more information on Plumsicle, visit our dedicated website!

HMC News – June 2022

We are tipping and thinning clusters in our table grape vineyards. During this process, each grape cluster is inspected and clipped to reduce the density of berries and obtain a manageable overall bunch size.

Two images of green grapes on the vine

At this point, we are getting into a nice harvest groove. Peach, plum, and nectarine harvest is moving right along in our orchards, with flavor continuing to impress across our early season varieties. 

Plumsicle™ harvest has begun! As expected, the crop is sweet and flavorful. Plumsicle is available only in limited supplies this year, but we continue to add more acreage to our Plumsicle orchards each year. For more information on Plumsicle, visit our new dedicated website hmcplumsicle.com.

three plums on a tree with leaves. The word Plumsicle and tagline "oh so sweet" in the top left corner.

Last week, some heavy winds and precipitation made their way to our farms. This actually kept us out of the fields for a day, which never happens in the summer. The wind blew quite a bit of fruit off of our trees, and some trees even blew over. After a week of days peaking at over 100°F, the forecast finally shows a little relief as we are expected to drop back into the 90s, and potentially a hair below that for the holiday on Monday. In our table grape vineyards, we’ve seen a little bit of burn on the varieties that haven’t entered veraison yet, but nothing compared to last year. Thankfully, this year’s heat wave came a little later, which meant that there was more canopy coverage in the vineyards to offer shade and protection to berries susceptible to sunburn. Our Sweet Bond and Flame red seedless varieties are gaining color, and Ivory green seedless is in veraison. Berries are still sizing up across our vineyards.

dirt road with row of fruit trees and dust in the background. Fruit lying on the ground beside the trees.

HMC News – February 2022

Pink blossoms on a tree in an orchard

After a winter with sufficient chill hours, some of our earliest stone fruit varieties have started to wake up from their winter hibernation as they push the first blooms of the 2022 season. These first flowers bring anticipation for the upcoming season along with the anxiety of knowing that unfavorable weather conditions can now have deleterious effects on the 2022 crop. Blossoms become commonplace around the valley as hundreds of different stone fruit varieties will be in different stages of bloom in late February and early March.

Dirt field with stick. Man wearing jeans, boots, and gloves wrapping white tape around stick.

We are in the process of grafting trees in some of our stone fruit orchards. Grafting is a process in which scion wood (a piece of wood from the desired varietal) is bonded to existing rootstock. This allows the new variety to reach harvest more quickly than planting entirely new trees. Different root stocks are beneficial for different reasons, such as drought resistance, increased vigor, or successful growth in a particular soil type.

Bundles of baby trees in two white bins

We’re planting new trees on the blocks of land we’ve spent the last few months preparing for this very thing. Selecting new varieties is a process which requires a lot of research to ensure that only the best tasting varieties make it to our farms, but we also take other factors, such as harvest timing, into consideration to ensure a consistent flow of delicious fruit is available throughout the harvest season.

Unlike peaches and nectarines, most of our plum varieties are not self-fertile and require pollination from another variety to set a crop. Many blocks of plums are comprised of two or more varieties for cross-pollination. Every year we place beehives in our plum orchards to promote the cross-pollination process. Often, we include “bouquets” of a third plum variety in bins near the orchard as a supplemental pollen source.

Receta de salsa barbacoa Plumsicle™

Esta receta fue creada por The Produce Moms.
No se puede hacer una barbacoa de verano sin la salsa adecuada para acompañarla. Una buena salsa barbacoa
trae a la mente el clima cálido y la diversión en el patio trasero, sin importar la época del año en que la disfrutes. En
Hay una gran variedad de sabores de salsa barbacoa, así como formas de utilizarla, pero nada supera a una salsa casera con ingredientes frescos.
salsa casera llena de ingredientes frescos! Mezcla esta salsa BBQ Plumsicle™ y dale un
nuevo sabor dulce a un sabor clásico.

Cómo hacer la salsa barbacoa Plumsicle
Seguro que puedes comprar todo tipo de variedades de salsa BBQ en la tienda. Pero no obtendrás el sabor exacto
sabor que buscas a menos que la hagas tú mismo. Afortunadamente, esta salsa esencial para la barbacoa es fácil
de hacer en tu propia cocina - y la Salsa BBQ Plumsicle no es una excepción.

Con el delicioso dulce de Plumsicle junto con el ajo, la pimienta roja y otros sabrosos ingredientes, esta salsa BBQ es una delicia para las papilas gustativas.
ingredientes, esta salsa barbacoa es una delicia para el paladar. El ketchup y el azúcar moreno proporcionan una
base sencilla para esta salsa, pero son los Plumsicles los que le dan un sabor sobresaliente.
La salsa BBQ Plumsicle comienza en la licuadora. Corta las ciruelas en trozos más pequeños y licuables
y añádelas a tu procesador de alimentos o licuadora junto con el resto de los ingredientes.
La salsa barbacoa casera tiene un poco más de textura que la típica variedad comprada en la tienda, pero su
licuadora la hará lo suficientemente suave como para untar las costillas, las hamburguesas o la pizza. Luego sólo hay que reducirla en
en el horno, guárdala en un recipiente (nosotros usamos un tarro de conservas) y sírvela con tu plato favorito de verano.
de verano.

Foto aérea de un procesador de alimentos con ciruelas picadas, azúcar moreno y otros ingredientes para la salsa barbacoa Plumsicle

Ingredientes
● 3 ciruelas de HMC Farms deshuesadas y picadas (la piel se mantiene)
● 2 dientes de ajo, picados
● 1/2 taza de ketchup
● 1/4 de taza de azúcar moreno*
● 2 cucharadas de vinagre de sidra de manzana
● 1 cucharadita de salsa Worcestershire
● 1 cucharadita de copos de pimienta roja
● Sal y pimienta al gusto

*El ciruelo es naturalmente muy dulce. Es posible que quieras ajustar la cantidad de azúcar moreno hacia arriba o hacia abajo, dependiendo de lo dulce que te guste tu salsa barbacoa.

Direcciones
1. Picar las ciruelas.
2. Poner todos los ingredientes en el procesador de alimentos o en la batidora. Mezclar hasta que esté suave.
3. Poner en una sartén de hierro fundido, reducir a fuego medio. Debería tardar unos 10 minutos.

Sartén de hierro fundido medio llena de salsa barbacoa Plumsicle, rodeada de un paño de cocina y varios trozos de fruta Plumsicle

Saboreando la dulzura de la ciruela
¿Quieres una nueva forma de celebrar el sabor del verano? Plumsicle es justo lo que
lo que necesitas! Esta increíble variedad de ciruela rebosa de dulzura. Es la ciruela perfecta para
para hacer sabrosas delicias como estos Wine Pops y Ice Pops o para mezclar en deliciosas salsas para
para complementar todas sus comidas favoritas de la barbacoa.

Tarro de salsa barbacoa Plumsicle, paño de cocina, 2 piezas de fruta Plumsicle y cuchara de madera llena de salsa

¿Cómo reconocerá una Plumsicle cuando la vea? Es una de las ciruelas más llamativas
más llamativas. Busque una explosión de motas amarillas que salpican una piel profunda y rica. Muerda una y encontrará
encontrará una jugosa pulpa de color rojizo-púrpura que es ideal para añadir un color vibrante a sus recetas. Y, por supuesto,
busque el logotipo de HMC Farms. Busque Plumsicle en su tienda de comestibles local entre
entre mediados de junio y finales de julio, en bolsas de una libra y de dos libras.
¿Qué te ha parecido esta salsa barbacoa Plumsicle? ¿Impresionó a los amantes de la parrilla del vecindario
o al conocedor de la barbacoa de tu familia? Deja un comentario abajo, síguenos en Facebook o etiquétanos en tus fotos de ciruelas perfectas en Instagram @HMCfarms y @theproducemoms.

 

Tarro de salsa Plumsicle BBQ con paño de cocina y 2 piezas de fruta Plumsicle. Encabezado con el logotipo de The Produce Moms y el texto "Plumsicle BBQ Sauce".