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Dessert

Damson Cheese

A fruit cheese made from ripe damsons, sugar, and optional blanched kernels, boiled into a marmalade-like consistency and molded.

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

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pulp

  1. Place ripe damsons in a stone jar and set it in boiling water or on a hot hearth until soft enough to pulp.

  2. Weigh the pulp and add ¾ pound of white sugar for every pound of fruit.

Make and set the cheese

  1. Boil the mixture until it thickens to a marmalade consistency.

  2. Pour the mixture into small molds, garnishing the bottoms with blanched kernels and stirring a few into the pulp.

  3. Once cold, cover with paper.

Serve

  1. To serve, loosen the cheese with a silver knife, place a plate on top, and shake it out.

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

Ripe damsons
Provide the fruit pulp that forms the body and flavour of the cheese.
White sugar
Sweetens the pulp and, once boiled, thickens it into a firm, sliceable set.

The step that matters

Boil until marmalade consistency. Sugar and fruit pectin must be concentrated by boiling until the mixture thickens; undercooked pulp will not set firmly when cooled, and overcooking can make it stiff 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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