Excellent Damson Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the damsons
Bake or stew the damsons until tender.
Drain off the juice.
Remove the skins and stones from the damsons.
Return 1 to 1½ cups of the juice to the damsons and weigh them.
Make the cheese
Boil the damsons over a brisk fire until they form a dry paste.
Add 12 ounces of pounded sugar for each 2 pounds of damsons and stir until dissolved.
Continue boiling while stirring until the mixture leaves the pan dry and adheres to the spoon. To test, it should not stick to your fingers when lightly touched.
Quickly press the mixture into pans or molds.
Store
Once completely cool, cover with a paper dipped in spirit and 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 fruit pulp that cooks down into the thick, set paste.
- Pounded sugar
- Sweetens the paste and, with long boiling, helps it thicken and firm up as it sets.
The step that matters
Boiling down until the paste leaves the pan dry. Sugar and fruit pectin only set into a firm paste once enough water has evaporated. Stopping early leaves a soft mixture that will not hold its shape when cool.
“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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