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Dessert

Damson Jelly

A preserved fruit jelly made from damsons and bullaces, boiled with sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Plum and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,313 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓

Damson Jelly

Oven, in the book's wordsA very slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Extract the juice

  1. Bake the damsons and bullaces in a 300°F (150°C) oven or boil them in a water bath until soft.

  2. Pour off the clear juice from the fruit.

  3. Strain the juice.

  4. Weigh the juice.

Make the jelly

  1. Boil the juice quickly without sugar for 25 minutes.

  2. Remove the juice from heat.

  3. Stir in 10 ounces of sugar for each pound of juice.

  4. Stir the jelly often before adding sugar and constantly afterwards.

  5. Boil quickly for an additional 6 to 10 minutes.

  6. Skim off any scum.

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

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Plum + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,313 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Damsons
Provide the fruit's pectin and tart flavour that set and season the jelly.
Bullaces or pale plums
Add extra pectin and body to help the jelly set.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the jelly set and keep its texture.

The step that matters

Stirring in the sugar. Sugar must dissolve fully and be stirred in evenly before the final boil, or the jelly may crystallise or set unevenly. Stir often so it does not scorch on the base of the pan.

“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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