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Dessert

Damson Cheese

A preserve made by boiling damson fruit with water and sugar until it candies, then poured into molds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Damson Cheese

Ingredients

Directions

Make the damson paste

  1. Boil the damson fruit in enough water to cover it.

  2. Strain the pulp through a coarse sieve.

Cook and set

  1. Add ¼ pound of sugar for each pound of fruit.

  2. Boil until it begins to candy on the sides.

  3. Pour into tin molds.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Damson fruit
Provides the pulp, tartness and pectin that give the cheese its body and set.
Sugar
Sweetens the fruit and, as it concentrates, helps the paste thicken and firm when cooled.

The step that matters

Boil until it begins to candy on the sides. Boiling drives off water and concentrates sugar and fruit solids. Stopping too early leaves a soft paste that will not hold its shape; cooking too long can scorch it and make it hard and sticky.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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