Damsons, Compote of
Ingredients
Directions
Pick the stalks from the damsons and place them in boiling syrup.
Simmer gently until the fruit is tender but not breaking.
Remove the damsons and boil the syrup for 5 minutes.
Pour the syrup over the damsons and serve in a glass dish.
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 main fruit body and tart flavour that the syrup sweetens.
- Syrup
- Sweetens the fruit and keeps it moist while it cooks and sits.
The step that matters
Simmer gently until tender but not breaking. Hard boiling heats the fruit too fast, so the skins split and the flesh breaks down before it softens evenly. Gentle simmering lets the heat reach the centre slowly, keeping the fruit whole and tender.
“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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.