Damson Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Wash the damsons and place them in a kettle with enough water to cover the bottom.
Boil the damsons hard until cooked.
Remove some juice for jelly.
Make the butter
Rub the cooked fruit through a sieve to remove skins and seeds.
For each pint of pulp, add one pound of sugar.
Return the mixture to a clean kettle and cook until it reaches the desired consistency, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
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 and tartness that form the body and flavor of the butter.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the butter and helps it thicken as moisture evaporates during cooking.
The step that matters
Cooking the pulp with sugar while stirring constantly. Sugar-rich fruit pulp scorches easily on the bottom of the kettle. Constant stirring spreads heat evenly and prevents burnt flavor while the mixture thickens into a spreadable butter.
“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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.