Damson Jam
Today I’m re-posting my Damson Jam which was published in 2013 when I didn’t own or know how to use a professional camera. This recipe has been one of my most popular jams ever since so it was high time I did a re-shoot and gave it the presentation it deserved! I hope you approve.
I have a confession to make, in the 40 years that my parents have lived in their current house I have never taken any notice of their Damson tree. When I was growing up we had a Victoria plum tree and a huge pear tree which dominated the garden but the Damson tree just minded its own business in one of the borders.
The Victoria plum tree and the pear tree have long since languished but the Damson tree has soldiered on. So it took my new love of jam making for me to actually look forward to the harvest of Damsons that I’ve half-heartedly accepted bags of in the past. Yes shocking I know!
So as with all my jams I like to have a good old research of my topic and find the best and most efficient way to make my next jam. It became apparent that this wasn’t a simple jam to make like all the other ones I’d made.
With Damsons you have the sticky issue of the stone to contend with. Hence there were recipes where you either laboriously cut them out at the beginning or you had to wade through hot jam at the end to remove them.
Kirstie Allsopp even suggested counting the plums so that you could be sure to have removed all the stones! Then there were useful tips I found like agitating the plums once cooked with a whisk to help loosen the stones before fishing out.
Another tip I found which would have worked if my plums had all been really ripe, was to remove the stone by gripping the opposite ends of the Damson and squeezing thus releasing the stone. Sadly this only worked on a few of my plums and most of them were not ripe enough for this method.
I came up with what I thought was a stroke of genius! I used my Oxo Goodgrips Cherry/Olive pitter as it is so sturdy and proved perfect for the job. I decided I didn’t fancy fishing for stones at the end of the jam making process with rubber gloves and I’m really glad I opted to remove them beforehand. If I hadn’t I wouldn’t have known about the 3 rotten plums that had looked fine from the outside but were totally brown on the inside which would have spoiled the jam.
The only problem with pitting the Damsons beforehand is that there is a certain amount of plum still stuck to the stone, which would also happen when using a knife or the squeeze technique.
Not wanting to waste any flesh I decided to simmer my stones with a small amount of water and then to pop them in a sieve which seemed to be the best of both worlds and then the liquor could be popped back in to the pan with the simmered Damsons before adding the sugar.
As Damsons are so delightfully full of pectin there was no need to add any other fruit or lemon juice to this recipe, they are the perfect fruit to make jam or jelly with. I had never eaten Damson jam before and it has a unique sharp edge to it which I have enjoyed especially at breakfast time. I made 8 pots of varying sizes but did measure the volume which was about 2.1 ltrs.
I love chatting jam, so if you have any questions or want to tell me how you got on then do fire away in the comment section below!
For more plum jam inspiration you might like:
Why not pin for later!
Damson Jam
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg Damsons (stoned after weighing)
- 1.875 kg Granulated Sugar
- 450 ml Water + 20 ml to simmer with damson stones
Instructions
- Cook the damsons in a preserving pan with the water gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- At the same time cook the stones in a separate medium sized pan with 20 mls of water for 20 minutes.
- When the stones have cooked put them in a sieve and squeeze with the back of a wooden spoon for a couple of minutes. (There will be clear liquid and a little puree, no need to squeeze until dry).
- Add this liquor to the cooked Damsons and then add the sugar.
- Heat slowly until all the sugar has dissolved stirring with a wooden spoon.
- Bring to the boil slowly and then time a rolling boil for 13 minutes (make sure you stir with a wooden spoon regularly to stop it catching and burning).
- Take off the heat and test a teaspoon of jam on a cold plate, leave for a couple of minutes and if it crinkles when your finger is pushed through it it’s ready.
- If not boil for 2 more minutes at a time repeating the test.
- Once ready pot up into sterilised jars and put on a clean lid. Makes 2.1 ltrs or 8 jars of varied sizes.
Recipe Notes
Put 2 small plates in the freezer before you start.
Sterilise jars by washing or dishwashing, filling with boiling water, emptying and then placing in oven for 20 minutes at 140°C then leave in oven until jam is ready. Wash the lids, sterilise with boiling water and then leave to drain.
Lynne
I also found that this was the nicest jam I have made yet, tangy and sweet. It was a great tip to use a cherry pitter to get rid of the stones before cooking. Most of them actually popped out quite cleanly too. Just got a bit of a sore wrist after stoning a couple of kilos of damsons! Thank you for the recipe.
Camilla
Thank you Lynne, so glad you like my Damson Jam recipe.
Carol Gibson
Hi, have made the damson jam I used a jam thermometer to check that jam would set. Some jars have some haven’t. Should I return to the pan and boil again?
Kind regards
Carol Gibson
Camilla
Hi Carol, yes you can return the jam to the pan and boil again. Check with the chilled plate method.
Danny
Best way to remove all stones – works every time!
Suspend a steamer basket in your preserving pan / pot so that the top is just above the level of the jam as it is cooking. As the jam boils, the stones will rise to the surface within the rolling boil and will be caught in the steamer basket as the jam boils over the top edge of the basket. The Steamer basket needs to be securely held in place which I do using a couple of G clamps.
John Jones
What to do with the stones in damsons depends rather on whether you want to have the cooked skins in the finished jam. I do, so a sieve, which filters out both, is not ideal. Instead I use a method that allows me to retain the body and texture from the skins but also reliably to lose all of the stones.
Basically I cook the damsons stones-in and then slop the hot jam through a colander when it’s ready. Then having pushed the last bit of syrupy jam through the holes I dump the solids left in the colander onto a plate and set to it with two forks, separating the white-ish stones from the dark purple skins by eye. I do this for about 10 minutes max when I’m dealing with a kilo of fruit and by this time I reckon to have recovered about 70-80% of the original skin for returning to the jam, which seems to me sufficient for the desired effect. I simply make sure those skins are stirred evenly into the jam before I bottle it.
The end result from this method combines the smooth silkiness of the jelly with the soft “bite” of the cooked skin, a bit like those marmalades that have both the jelly and some shreds.
Camilla
Hi John, I think you must have scim read my recipe as I certainly don’t sieve out the skins, that would be a tragedy!
Colleen
Hi, We have a damson tree in our garden and this is the first year it has bore fruit! The plums are just about ripe. I don’t have the pitter tool so should I pop the plums, skins and all, in the water to boil and pick out the stones afterwards? What happens to the plum skins? Do they break down when boiling? Many thanks, Colleen
Camilla
Hi Colleen, you can do it that way. The skins do soften and break up in the process.
heidi
I was given a bag of what they called Damson plums but they are much bigger (wouldn’t fit in a cherry pitter). I would have called what I was given Italian plums. Can this jam be made with what I have? Thanks!
Camilla
Hi Heidi, damsons are quite tart and your plums probably aren’t so I would make something like my Plum & Apple Jam which is glorious: https://www.fabfood4all.co.uk/plum-apple-jam/
Vickie
I’ve made many many jams over the years, but never damson. We recently moved to a farm with damson trees. Well I made a batch yesterday, best jam I’ve ever made if I’m honest, I was concerned about how liquidy it looked, but after cooling it’s perfect. Thank you
Camilla
Awesome Vickie, thank you for your lovely feedback, so glad you like the recipe:-) Wish I lived on a farm:-)