Damson Jam is beautifully tart and has a wonderful unique flavour. Perfect for using up your windfalls!
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!
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 have 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.
For more plum jam recipe inspiration you might like:
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!
I’m sure you’ll love my Damson Jam recipe so do leave a comment and rating below when you make it. Plus if you’re on social media tag @FabFood4All as I love seeing my recipes come to life.
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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.
Notes
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.
Amy
Good evening 🙂
We have just moved into our new home and have a beautiful damson tree, we’ve just picked nearly three kilos of fruit but they are very very ripe – is there a possibility of them being too ripe and therefore not being any point in making jam with them do you happen to know ?
Thank you so much, Amy
Camilla
Hi Amy, I’d say if they are good enough to eat (like a very ripe plum) then they’re good enough to make jam. But if you wouldn’t eat them then they won’t make good jam. At least they’ll be easier to pit, you can just squeeze the stone out of the top of each damson. If you struggle to get a set because the pectin levels have dropped due to being so ripe as a back up you could add some lemon juice (about 2 tbsp) at the end if necessary and boil until setting point reached, but hopefully it will be fine without.
Katie Gregory
Hello!
Love your write up on this recipe and looking forward to giving it a go.
I only have jam sugar and wondered if this would be ok to use? I realise Damsons are already high in pectin but am hoping I can still use it!
Camilla
Hi Katie, please don’t use jam sugar unless you want your jam to be like concrete. I only ever used jam sugar once and vowed never to use it again. As you say, Damsons don’t need any added pectin so to use jam sugar would definitely be overkill. Just wait until you can get hold of some granulated sugar.
Rachel
Damson Jam
First attempt at jam making, your recipe was easy to follow with a great result, Thank you.
Camilla
Wonderful Rachel, so happy to hear that you had success on your first attempt:-)
Tony Sanders
I’ve made damson jam for the past few years but saw your recipe and invested in the Oxo Goodgrips stoner as I thought maybe the cheap stoner I had may not be up to the job. This year the damsons are much larger than previous – so had enough for 2 batches. The first batch, I pitted them the same afternoon I picked them and it was so quick and easy – a fraction of the time it took me in previous years. I put the second batch in the fridge and pitted them the following afternoon – and it was nowhere near as easy as the first batch – with all of them having much more pulp stuck to the stone and none coming out with clean stones. Thanks to your tip on cooking the stones, it doesn’t really matter as I ended up with the finished product having all the fruit and pulp in it. I do low sugar (about a quarter of your recipe) due to diabetes and it doesn’t set as thick but is scrumptious. Thanks a lot for the great tips.
Camilla
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback Tony! So glad that my tips have been useful to you:-)
Ali
Sorry for the long post This year is the 1st time our trees have produced plums, having moved here 4 years ago. I used your Apple and blackberry jam recipe then your tutti frutti jam.
I thought I’d give your Damson jam a go as I have so much fruit this year and I want to say thank you it’s lovely. I’m so pleased as I e had problems with over setting but every time I use your recipe it sets like a dream. THANK YOU.
Camilla
Aaw Ali, thank you, that’s so wonderful to hear, so glad you like my jams:-)
WendyS
Thanks for sharing! We make plum jam every year, and we have found the best trick for removing the pits it to place washed whole plums in the freezer for a couple days and then partially thaw. If you can stand cold fingers, it actually helps the pits come out with very little flesh! We keep a bowl of warm water nearby to rewarm our fingers! Just be careful as the semi-frozen plums are slick and roll easily.
Camilla
If the Damsons are ripe you should be able to just give them a squeeze and the stone pops out.
Angela Dickinson
Made this from underipe damsons. It is tarte but I find it to be absolutely delicious and very easy to make. I boiled the Unstoned damsons before adding the sugar. When soft I passed them through a colander, leaving some fruit and the stones behind. I then picked out the stones and reboiled them in enough water to cover them. I then added the cooking water to the fruit and added the sugar. Boiled up for about 12 minutes and got 8 really tasty jars of njam.
Camilla
Excellent, glad you managed to do a work around with unripe damsons, there wouldn’t be any shifting those stones:-)
Barry Cookson
Friends found my damson jam ok but needed something else added…
What’s best way of making damson and blackberry jam please? I did this last year and very popular but improvised….not sure of the best way. I found one recipe with also elderberries and lemon….are lemons really needed? My jam set fine without lemon…
Camilla
Seriously Barry, I’d get new friends – only joking. Theoretically you wouldn’t need to add lemon juice to a damson and blackberry jam as they are both quite high in pectin, however elderberries are low in pectin so that’s probably why that recipe had lemon juice in it. If you’re after an elderberry jam recipe I have a cracking one that I want to make again this year for it’s medicinal qualities.
Susannah
I used a technique I use for greengages – roast them on 180c for 30 mins or so. Let cool and squish the ski pits out into a bowl. I did that in 2kg batches. Can then use for jam/paste/chutney or compote. The roasting also caramelises some of the sugars and adds a lovely depth of flavour. I have also roasted with star anise and cassia with blood plums. Delicious.