Damson Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Place fresh damsons in an earthen jar and seal it tightly with a bladder.
Submerge the jar in a pot of cold water and bring it to a boil.
Boil for 3 to 4 hours, adding more boiling water as needed.
Strain the juice through a sieve.
Make the cheese
Add 16 ounces of pounded sugar to the juice.
Boil, stirring over a clear fire until it reaches a jelly consistency, about 45 minutes.
Pour into shapes, small saucers, or flat plates to dry.
Store
Store in a box with sheets of white paper between each layer.
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 juice that sets into a firm, sliceable jelly-like cheese.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the juice and helps it set into a firm, sliceable jelly as it thickens.
The step that matters
Boil until a jelly consistency is reached. Sugar and fruit pectin set into a gel only when enough water has evaporated and the mixture reaches the right concentration. Stopping too early leaves a soft, runny cheese that will not hold its shape.
“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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