Victoria is by far the most popular plum variety in the UK, dating from the Victorian era, and well-known for heavy crops of very attractive plum-coloured fruit.
Victoria really excels as a culinary plum. It cooks to a distinctive pink/orange puree which makes a very good jam and a good-flavoured filling for pies and crumbles. The stone is semi-clinging, and fairly easy to remove from the flesh. The flavour has a good sweet/sharp balance, and there is often a note of almond in the background which is a characteristic of Victoria.
Victoria plums are sometimes considered inferior to other dessert plum varieties for eating fresh. However this assumption is probably based on the poor flavour of shop-bought Victoria plums, which are usually picked far too early. The plums will ripen over a period of several weeks and if you want to eat them rather than cook with them, leave the plums on the tree until they are fully ripe - the skins will start to become a darker red /purple (as in our photograph) rather than the more usual orange flushed colour. At this point the flavour will certainly not disappoint.
