Damson Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the fruit
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Place the damsons in the oven until soft.
Remove the stones from the damsons, crack them, and blanch the kernels.
Make the cheese
Add the lump sugar to the damsons and boil for about 3 hours.
Mold
Wet the molds before using them.
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
- Damsons
- Provide the pulp and tartness that the cheese is built from, and natural pectin for setting.
- Lump sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and, as it concentrates during boiling, helps the paste thicken and keep.
The step that matters
Boiling the damsons with the sugar. Long boiling concentrates the sugar and fruit so the mixture thickens and sets into a firm paste. Stopping early leaves it soft, while overlong or uneven heat can scorch the sugar and darken the flavor.
“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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