Damson Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Gather damsons on a dry day.
Bake or boil them until fully cooked.
Strain the juice through a fine sieve.
Make the cheese
Add 1 pound of sifted sugar for every pint of juice.
Fill small molds with the mixture.
Use the leftovers
Boil the remaining fruit with some brown sugar for other uses.
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 fruit pulp and juice that set into the cheese.
- Sifted sugar
- Sweetens the juice and helps it thicken into a firm, sliceable set.
- Brown sugar
- Sweetens the leftover fruit, adding a deeper, caramel-like flavour.
The step that matters
Add the sugar in the right amount. Fruit pectin and acid need enough sugar to gel properly. Too little sugar leaves the cheese soft or runny, while the correct ratio lets it set firm enough to hold its shape when unmolded.
“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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