We moved into our little Welsh cottage at the beginning of August in 2019 (just before any of us had ever heard the word ‘Coronavirus’). Less than 2 months later, we discovered that we have a damson tree in the garden that was plentiful with fruit ready to be picked.
Unfortunately, our range cooker was yet to be installed, so we had no way of cooking them; wed were preparing all our meals in a 2nd hand microwave that we brought with us from Yorkshire. We told one of our new neighbours to come over and pick as many as they could take away with them – there were many kilos. We were soon duly rewarded with a few jars of delicious, homemade damson jam – not a bad swap, we thought!
The next three summers saw not a single damson fruit on our tree, we thought it was dying. When September 2023 arrived, we managed to harvest about half a kilo… and discovered another young damson tree in one of our hedges. We picked about ¾ of a kilo in total.
I found a Damson jam recipe on the BBC website; however, looking at the comments, many people that followed it reported that there was way too much sugar stated (which was a weight ratio of 1-1 fruit to granulated sugar).
I left the fruit stones in the jam when I decanted it into the jars – I’m not fussy, and I know to look out for them when putting it on toast and in sandwiches. If you’d prefer to make jam without stones, you can remove them before cooking or by putting the just-cooked jam through a sieve before decanting.
Personally, I don’t mind a few stones in my jam jars. De-stoning the fruit is before cooking is time-consuming (especially if you’re preparing many kilos). Alternatively, sieving it while it’s still piping hot can be dangerous.
Damson jam
Ingredients
- 750 g damsons halved, stones left in
- 500 g granulated sugar
Instructions
- Wash jars & lids in hot, soapy water, rinse, then place on a baking tray and put in a low oven for 10 mins or until completely dry. If you're using rubber/plastic seals, remove the seals and cover in just-boiled water. Ensure you also sterilise any funnels, ladles and spoons that you’ll be using.
- Put the halved damsons into a jam pan or a large, wide, heavy-based saucepan. Slowly bring to the boil, stirring occasionally to stop any skin sticking to the bottom. Put a couple of saucers into the freezer. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the fruit has softened.
- Add the sugar and stir over a very low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved, up to 10 mins. This step is vital; if you don’t dissolve the sugar, the bottom of the pan may catch and burn and affect the final taste of the jam. Raise the heat, bring to a full rolling boil, then rapidly boil for 10 minutes. Don’t stir until the setting point of 105ºC is reached. If you don’t have a thermometer, test the jam by spooning a little onto a cold saucer (that you've put in the freezer). Wait a few seconds, then push the jam with your fingertip. If it wrinkles, the jam is ready. If not, cook for a few more minutes and test again, with another cold saucer. Once you've reached the 105ºC or setting point, stir the jam thoroughly.
- Remove from the heat, skim off any excess scum. Leave for about 15 minutes to allow the fruit to settle; if you decant the jam too soon, all the fruit will sink to the bottom. Pour into the sterilised jars, label and seal.