Damson Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Bake or boil the damson fruit in a stone jar until tender and the stones separate.
If using skins, remove the stones with a spoon.
If not using skins, rub the fruit through a coarse sieve to retain the pulp.
Measure the fruit and place it in a preserving pan over a brisk fire.
Cook the jam
Boil quickly until all liquid evaporates and the fruit is dry.
Add ½ pound of powdered loaf sugar for every quart of fruit and continue boiling until the mixture candies to the sides of the pan.
Crack the stones.
Skin the kernels.
Boil the kernels in the jam for appearance, if desired.
Pot and cool
Pour the mixture into shallow vessels like potting jars or saucers and let it cool before serving.
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
- Damson fruit
- Provides the main flavour, colour and pectin-rich pulp that sets the jam.
- Powdered loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, boiled down with the fruit, helps it thicken and set.
The step that matters
Boiling until the mixture candies to the sides of the pan. Sugar must be cooked until the fruit is concentrated and the mixture reaches a set point. Too little boiling leaves the jam runny, while overcooking makes it stiff and may scorch on 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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