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Dessert

Damson Cheese

A preserved fruit cheese made from ripe damsons, powdered sugar, brandy, and cracked kernels, baked and set in molds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,939 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Damson Cheese

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare the fruit

  1. Bake cleaned ripe damsons in a deep earthen pan, covered with paper, at 300°F (150°C) until soft.

  2. Rub the soft damsons through a colander into a stewpan.

Make the cheese

  1. Add powdered sugar to taste and boil for at least 2.5 hours over gentle heat, stirring frequently until thick.

  2. Five minutes before removing from heat, stir in the cracked damson kernels.

  3. Pour the mixture into molds or cups and let it stand for 24 hours.

  4. Dip pieces of writing paper in brandy, cut to size, and place over the tops of the damson cheeses.

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. Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together11,939 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Ripe damsons
Provide the main fruit body and pectin that gives the cheese its thick, sliceable set.
Powdered loaf sugar
Adds sweetness and, as it concentrates, helps the mixture thicken and keep.
Damson kernels
Add a subtle almond-like aroma and bitter nuttiness to the finished cheese.
Brandy
Adds aroma and, on the paper covers, helps discourage surface mould.

The step that matters

Boiling until thick. Long, gentle boiling with frequent stirring evaporates water and concentrates the fruit and sugar so the mixture sets firm. Stopping early leaves a soft cheese that may not hold its shape, and stirring prevents scorching 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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