Damson Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove the stalks from the damsons.
Combine the damsons and sugar in a preserving pan.
Let the mixture sit by the fire until some juice is extracted.
Cook and pot
Slowly bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Boil gently for about 45 minutes, or until the syrup stiffens when tested on a cold plate.
Pour the jam into pots and cover with paper brushed with egg white.
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, pectin and tartness that give the jam its flavour and body.
- Preserving sugar
- Sweetens the jam, and its high sugar content helps the syrup set and preserves it.
The step that matters
Boiling until the syrup stiffens. Boiling gently for the full time concentrates the sugar and pectin until the syrup sets. Stopping too early leaves a runny jam, while boiling too hard can scorch the sugar and dull the fruit flavour. The cold plate test shows when setting point is reached.
“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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