Damson and wild plum season is upon us and I am busy using them for my next Country Kitchen article. A lot of people in our village have damson trees in their gardens and as they know I am writing the article, I have received lots! Charlotte from the www.greatbigvegchallenge.blogspot.com asked yesterday for a recipe for damson jam as she had some to use. The problem I find with damson jam is removing all the stones and I have yet to find a method of doing this quickly! Any hints and tips let me know.
Damson and cinnamon jam
2 1/2lb damsons, washed
preserving sugar (according to quantity of fruit pulp)
1 1/2 pints of water
2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 tbsp butter
Place the damsons, water and cinnamon in a jam pan (or a large saucepan if you do not have a jam pan). Bring to the boil and then simmer for about half an hour until the damsons are soft. This is the fiddly bit - place the fruit in a sieve or strainer, a ladle full at a time and push the fruit through the sieve. Once you have removed all the stones and the cinnamon sticks, measure the fruit pulp and return it to the pan with 1kilo of preserving sugar for every 800ml of pulp. Simmer gently to dissolve the sugar and then rapidly boil for 15 - 20 minutes, testing for set using a saucer which has been chilled in the freezer. Drop a small amount of the jam on the cold saucer. If it wrinkles and a skin forms when you push it with your finger the jam is set. When the set has been reached add the butter and stir until melted. Pour into sterilised jars and seal.
6 comments:
I miss damsons! I never see them over here. I think I might try this recipe with fresh Italian prunes though. What do you think?
Hannah - thanks. I will try it asap.
Charlotte
Hannah.... this is not a question about plums... I received a cute teapot cookie cutter. What recipe, other than a ginger cookie, is suitable for it? I am not the best cookie baker. I am trying the ginger cookie recipe at the moment.
Rita, you should try your cookie cutter with some crispy and vanilla scented sugar cookies. Glazed with a pink sugar glaze and covered with hundreds and thousands they would be beautiful
Hannah if you leave the stones in the plums they will all come up to the top of your cooking mixture and you'll be able to skim them off quite easily with a slotted spoon!
Hannah - re the damsons. A friend uses a cherry/olive stone remover that she bought from 'Pampered Kitchen'.This removes the stones easily although a lot of flesh stays attached to the stone if they are not ripe, she then boils these stones in water and sieves the pulp off the stones and uses this as the water content for the recipe. Best I can come up with!
Hannah, I was overjoyed to find some damsons at the market today, and I just made this jam! The house smells the way a house should, and the preserves are delicious, so thank you!
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