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DAMSON JAM (another way)
The broken damsons, of which there must always be a quantity in a large gathering, will make an excellent jam (reject poor ones). Put six pounds of damsons without stones, or the stones may be removed after, into a preserving-pan with one pint of water, boil till the fruit may be rubbed through a sieve, and to every pound of pulp allow one pound of sugar. The sugar must first be boiled to a syrup, and then added to the pulp. Stir the jam, and, when sufficiently boiled, test it on a plate, and store in a dry place with brandied or oiled paper, and an outside covering of tissue-paper egged down. Allow one hour for boiling.
A sieved, seedless damson jam meant for windfall and split fruit at the end of a big picking. The method is sound; only the sealing and the hour of boiling need rethinking.
- The hour of boilingAn hour at a rolling boil will darken the jam and taste of caramel rather than damson. Damsons are very high in pectin and acid, so a sieved pulp with equal sugar usually sets in 10-20 minutes of hard boiling. Work to the set test, not the clock.
- Testing on a plateThis is the cold-plate test: chill a saucer, drop on a teaspoon of jam, wait a minute, push it with a finger. If it wrinkles and holds a line, it is done. A thermometer reading 104-105C (220F) says the same thing.
- Preserving-panA wide, shallow, unlined copper or brass pan. Any wide heavy-based stainless pan works; width matters more than depth because evaporation is what concentrates the jam. Avoid untreated aluminium with this much fruit acid.
- StonesDamson stones cling. Cooking the fruit whole with the pint of water and then rubbing through a sieve, as the recipe permits, is far quicker than pitting six pounds raw, and the sieve holds back skins as well.
- Boiling the sugar firstMaking a syrup before it meets the pulp shortens the time the fruit spends over heat and helps the colour. Dissolve the sugar in a little water, bring to a fast boil, then stir it into the hot pulp; do not let sugar sit undissolved on the pan base or it will scorch.
- Sugar by weight of pulpThe ratio is set after sieving, not before. Weigh the pulp once it is through the sieve and match it pound for pound; the finished yield will depend on how much is lost as stones and skins and how far the jam is boiled down.
- Brandied paper and tissue "egged down"A disc of paper soaked in brandy or oil went on the surface, then a tissue cover pasted down with beaten egg white as glue. It is a period seal, not a sterile one, and depends on a dry cool larder. Use hot sterilised jars and screw lids, filled to the brim while the jam is boiling hot.
- Reject poor onesTake the instruction seriously. Split and bruised fruit is fine; mouldy or fermenting fruit carries off-flavours through the whole batch and no amount of sugar hides it.
The damson is Prunus insititia, and the name is a contraction of "damascene" plum, generally traced to Damascus and said to have reached Britain with the Romans; by the nineteenth century it was a hedgerow and orchard-edge tree across the English Midlands and the North West, grown as much for dye and jam as for dessert. Cassell's gives damson jam more than one entry because the fruit was picked by the bushel rather than the pound, and a large gathering always produced split, wasp-marked and windfallen fruit that would not keep whole. This recipe is the thrifty second method: sieve the damaged fruit into a pulp, weigh it, match it with sugar, and get a smooth stoneless jam out of what would otherwise be dumped. The high natural pectin and sharp acid of the damson meant no added setting agent was needed, which is why it survived as a farmhouse preserve long after softer plums had to be helped along.