Damsons!

[MyCatReallyIsAGit]

Anyone got a great, not overly labour-intensive recipe for damsons which doesn’t involve jam or gin? We have about 2kg of damsons, and more to come (have picked about half what is on the tree). Planning a batch of jam but don’t want to make
more gin as already have two kilner jars of the stuff ripening under the stairs from last year’s frozen damsons.

I know any recipe will have a labour-intensive element due to the stones but would welcome any interesting suggestions. Thanks in advance!

[Blondie1984]

I'm not sure if you would consider it too labour intensive but I made damson ice cream in the past - this is the recipe I used
www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/recipes/

[Ricekrispie22]

Cobbler www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/damsoncobbler_7030
Tarte tatin www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fruit-recipes/plum-tarte-tatin/

[Celticdawn5]

My advice is Damson Jelly or Damson cheese.
Jam, in my experience, Damsons next to impossible to de stone and if you try fishing out the stones after boiling, you will lose a lot of jam in the process and inevitably you will miss a few stones and that could potentially cause someone to break a tooth.
You can de stone Damsons relatively easily if you get them at a particular point of ripeness, later in the season, but I’ve only managed that once so it’s Jelly for me.Much easier.

[4merlyknownasSHD]

Clafoutis

[AdaColeman]

Compote, skim out the stones after cooking, you will lose some of the fruit pulp but still worth doing. Use in pies, crumbles, cobbler, or to make fruit fool with custard and cream, or sauce for ice cream, or to make sorbet.
You can freeze the pulp in small batches for convenient use.

[MyCatReallyIsAGit]

Thank you - some good ideas here!

[Elouera]

@MyCatReallyIsAGit- can I asked where in the country your tree is? My MIL has one, but I'm never sure when they are ripe? How can you tell they are ready?

[MyCatReallyIsAGit]

Sorry, @Elouera, only just seen this! We are SE England. The tree always crops in August. Usually in the first half of the month.

The fruit gradually turns a very dark purple and some soften. I decide it’s picking time when they start to fall off.

When I pick, I give the fruit a gentle twist - it comes away when ready, if not, I leave it a few days. You have to be careful picking because the branches are quite brittle and scratch. Having said that, I do use a stick or similar to gently shake fruit from higher branches.

Ours is in, and likes, full sun, but gets no treatment at all bar the odd snipping of dead branches. Probably the happiest fruit tree in our garden. I think we had over 3kg of damsons this year and there’s still a good handful on the tree.

For the record, I made a big batch of jam, and another of damson purée/compote to freeze and use in winter desserts. No gin because I still have some maturing from last year’s frozen fruit.

[Elouera]

@MyCatReallyIsAGit- thanks for the info. MIL is SE England also. Hopefully I'll be visiting next week to check if there are any left on the tree and if they are ripe. thanks.

[PaternosterLoft]

Vodka.
Gin.
Stoned and cut then frozen in crumble/pure portion sizes.