A Year in Preserving - Damson Jam

At this time of year there is always a bit of a sense of "Here we go!" in the preserving world. There is a profusion of fruit and vegetables ripe for being preserved and hidden away for times of less bounty. There is also a sense of fear that I won't get it all done and this is not helped by the fact that, largely, I am not in control of the supply of ingredients for preserving. In some years, all the berries and fruits line up in neat chronological order and it a very simple task to organise and take on one recipe every weekend. Then there are the years like this one, where everything seems to come at once! In the past ten days I have gathered or been given enough fruit for 4 different preserves. This puts a degree of pressure on the kitchen, especially when one is trying to make the most of the last few days of the warm sunshine.
I propose to write 4 separate blog ;posts covering these preserves so they may be a little out of time. I shall start with Damson Jam.

The start of something lovely.

There are two problems with Damsons: Firstly, they are different, depending on where you are in the country. Damsons, plums, bullaces and gauges tend to change their name geographically. They are all related, merely having different sizes, colours and sweetness levels. The Damsons I used looked like small (bit not tiny) blue/purple plums.

Fruit in the preserving pan

The second problem with Damsons is the fact that their stones are extremely difficult to remove. I did this by making my initial boil with the fruit whole and sieving and picking out the stones when they had split from the flesh with the heat.
My late father loved Damson Jam for the slightly strange reason that the skins of the fruit tend to form into tiny, chewy lumps rather like penny sweets.
I do not own a damson tree but, for the last few years a huge bag has been supplied by a very dear friend which contains enough for a batch of Jam and 2 or 3 ltr of Damson Gin (Post to come soon). The sharing of the plenty at this time of year is a very basic and lovely human instinct. Communities are always stronger if they share and look after each other. I will, of course make sure that the donor has a pot of Jam or two soon.

The pulp with stones removed

(As I am typing this I am looking at the bag of Bramley apples dropped off by another friend, earlier this week). The recipe below is quite simple (putting aside the stone removal) and it is the formula I use when starting to develop a recipe. In essence, if the fruit is quite tart, equal amounts of sugar and fruit are used.



Damson Jam
2 kg Damsons
2 kg Sugar
250 ml water

Wash the fruit and pop, whole, into a preserving pan (or a large saucepan) with the water. Bring to the boil and then simmer until the fruit has all broken down. Judicious use of a potato masher or ladle can help with this. When all is pulpy and soft, force it all through a sieve.

Pick out the stones from the remnants in the sieve and put the remaining, stoneless pulp back into the mix.

Adding the sugar

Add the sugar bring to the boil. Boil the mix until the setting point is achieved (There are loads of ways of doing this, but after a few jams, you start to gain a feel for it).
Allow the Jam to cool a little and then pot in sterilised jars. Pop the lids on, allow to cool and then store. Make sure you give plenty away to keep the virtuous circle moving.

Note. I do not put any of my jams into competitions, so I am not too worries by a few bubbles of scum at the top of some of my jams. In fact the last half jar or so, which is nearly all bubbles gets popped in a jar too. I use this jar first on toast or in a Victoria sponge. To date I have had no complaints.

The finished article. With credit given to the fruit donor!

  

A Year in Preserving. To begin - Marmalade

I have blogged on many occasions about marmalade. I am not going to re-hash any of those posts, surface is to say, like most jams and preserves home made marmalade is always better than anything you can buy in a shop. Below I have written my simple marmalade recipe. Please feel free to play with this recipe, add booze (whisky and brandy work well though I've never tried rum), mix up the sugars maybe to add some richness.

Seville Orange Marmalade
Ingredients
1kg Seville oranges
2kg Granulated sugar
2 ltr water

Cut all the oranges in half, scoop out the flesh and some of the pith of each half with a tea spoon.

Squeeze all the juice you can out of the flesh and pips, add this liquid to a large pan. Wrap the pulp and pips up in a square of muslin, tied at the top Dick Whittington style, attach this to the side of the pan with another length of string.

All of the skins and pith must now be shredded. I have been lent an antique to help with this - The Magic Marmalade shredder. This Victorian piece of kit was a joy to use and after over 100 years could still do the job!

All the shreds need to be added to the pan with the pith bag, squeezed juice and add the water. This is then boiled for about 90 minutes.

Now lift out the pith bag with a pair of tongs and place it in a sieve. Gently squeeze the bag gently with the tongs over the boil. Do not touch this with your hands it will be as hot as the sun! then discard all the pith.
Now the sugar should be added and stir until it is all dissolved. Bring the pan to the boil and continue to boil until the setting point is reached.
Setting point is the almost magical point where sugar, acid and pectin conspire to produce a solid jelly at room temperature; it is the basis of all jams! The simplest of tests for setting point is the wrinkle test. The wrinkle test is carried out by placing a small plate in the fridge at the start of your preserving session. When the marmalade has been boiling for a while and appears to be thickening, get the plate out and dribble a small droplet onto the cold plate, leave it for a few minutes and then push the droplet with a finger (be careful it may still be hot). If the droplet wrinkles, then you have reached setting point.
Take the pot off the heat and leave it alone for about 5 minutes, there is likely to be a scum on the top. Now is the time to pot up your marmalade. I do this by pushing the scum to one side and using a special funnel.

At the end you will be left with the scum, I pop this into a spare jar and keep it for use in recipes that require marmalade (a cheats sweet and sour sauce, marmalade cake, etc).
I like to hand write my labels, but whether you print them or write them it is vital that you clearly label what the product is and the date it was made. I have some mystery chutneys from a few years back and i'm a little scared to try them!

There are about three weeks more of the Seville orange season left this recipe will make you about 7 standard pots for the rest of the year so its probably worth doing two or three batches! Homemade marmalade is nearly always better than anything you could buy in a shop at any price, it is supposed to be bitter and sweet. It was once said that it should be, to the taste buds as a cold shower is to the rest of the body first thing in the morning. Happy preserving!