Blanching Plums
Boil a pot of water on the stovetop. Choose a pot large enough to hold all your plums and fill half of it with water. It'll probably take about 10 minutes to boil.. Place a lid on the pot to help the water to boil quicker.
Fill a large bowl with ice and water. Add water and ice to the bowl at a 50:50 ratio. This will act as an ice bath for the plums.
Slice an "x" on the bottom of each plum. Use a paring knife to cut a cross hatch at the bottom of the plum (the side opposite the stem). Make each cut to be about 1 inch (2.5 cm) long. This will make it nice and easy to peel back the skin. Don’t worry about making the cut deep, simply cut through the skin of the plum.
Blanch the plums for 45 seconds in boiling water. Carefully place the plums into the pot of water. It is important not to leave the plums in the water for longer than 45 seconds, as the flesh will go mushy and the plums will start to disintegrate. Always be careful when cooking with hot water to avoid burns.
Submerge the plums in the ice water for 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the plums from the boiling water into the ice bath. The icy water will help to pull the skin away from the flesh of the plums. Make sure that all the plums are fully submerged in the water. If some of the plums aren’t submerged in the ice bath, make another ice bath for them.
Peel the skin off the plums. Place your finger under 1 of the little flaps formed by the "x" you sliced, and pull back the flap. The skin should easily come loose in 1 big strip. Keep pulling back the flaps on all four sides until you've completely peeled the plum. If there is still a little skin on the plum, use a paring knife to slice off any remaining skin.
Cut around the circumference of the plum. Press the paring knife firmly into the flesh until it hits the stone. Follow the natural seam in the skin and cut right around the plum. Keeping cutting until you have split the plum in half. If you don’t have a paring knife, use a sharp kitchen knife instead.
Twist each half of the plum in opposite directions to pull it away from the stone. Hold 1 half of the plum in each hand. Firmly grip the halves and slowly turn them away from each other until one half of the plum comes loose from the stone.
Lever the stone out with a spoon. Push a dessert spoon under the stone and then press the handle down to pop the stone out. If the stone won’t coming out, push the spoon under the opposite side of the stone and then lever it out.
Using a Knife
Cut the plum in half and pop the stone out. Place the plum on a chopping board and cut around the circumference of the plum. Use a teaspoon to pop the stone out of the plum.
Chop both pieces of plum in half. Cut each plum half lengthways to create a wedge. This makes the plum easier to peel. If your plum is particularly large, consider chopping each piece of plum into thirds.
Trim the skin off each plum wedge. Press the skin side of the plum firmly down against the chopping board. Carefully glide the knife as close to the skin as possible to remove the skin from the flesh. Compost the plum skin or use it in smoothies.
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