Excellent Damson Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the damsons
Bake or stew the damsons until tender.
Drain off the juice.
Skin and stone the damsons.
Return 1 to 1½ cups of juice to the fruit.
Weigh the damsons.
Make the paste
Boil them over a brisk fire until they form a dry paste.
Add 12 ounces of pounded sugar for each 2 pounds of damsons.
Stir off the heat until dissolved.
Boil the mixture again, stirring constantly, until it leaves the pan dry and adheres to the spoon.
Check if it doesn't stick to your fingers when lightly touched; if so, it's ready.
Pot and store
Quickly press the mixture into pans or molds.
Once completely cool, cover with a paper dipped in spirit.
Tie another layer over it.
Store in a dry place.
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 bulk of the fruit, whose pectin and pulp set into a thick paste when boiled down.
- Pounded sugar
- Sweetens the paste and, as it concentrates, helps it set firm and keep well.
The step that matters
Boiling the paste until it leaves the pan dry. Sugar and fruit must be cooked down far enough that the mixture sets firm when cool. Undercooked paste stays soft and sticky, while overcooking can make it dry and grainy.
“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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