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Dessert

Damson Jelly

A preserve made from damsons and sugar, cooked until set.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Damson Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

  1. Select firm, dry, and ripe damsons. Remove the stalks.

  2. Place the fruit in a large jar or stewpot and cover it tightly.

Extract the juice

  1. Put the jar in a pot of cold water and cook slowly until the plums are tender.

  2. Strain the juice through a jelly bag or fine cloth into a preserving pan.

Make and store the jelly

  1. Add 1 cup (8 to 10 oz) of sugar for each pint of juice.

  2. Boil until the jelly sets quickly when tested on a cold plate.

  3. Pour the set jelly into jars and cover with paper brushed with egg white to seal.

  4. Store in a cool, dry place.

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

Damsons
Supply the fruit flavour, acidity and natural pectin that help the jelly set.
Sugar
Sweetens the juice and helps the pectin form a firm gel as it boils.

The step that matters

Testing for the set on a cold plate. Pectin and sugar form a gel only at the right concentration. Stopping too early leaves a runny jelly, while boiling too long makes it stiff and dull, so test a spoonful on a cold plate before removing the pan from the heat.

“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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