Excellent Damson Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the damsons
Bake or stew the damsons until tender, about 25 to 30 minutes.
Drain off the juice, then pour back one third to half of it into the damsons.
Weigh the damsons.
Make the cheese
Boil them over a clear, brisk fire until they form a dry paste.
Add 6 ounces of pounded sugar for each pound of damsons and stir until dissolved.
Boil the mixture again and stir continuously until it 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 and let it cool.
Store
Once cold, 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 fruit body and pectin that set the mixture into a firm, sliceable cheese.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and helps the paste thicken and keep as a preserve.
The step that matters
Boiling until the mixture leaves the pan dry. Sugar is added to a thick fruit paste, and the mixture must be reduced far enough that water is driven off. Under-cooking leaves it too soft to set when cooled, while over-cooking makes it stiff and dry.
“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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