I was disappointed, to say the least, when the damson jam and damson cheese that I made turned out to be very tasty, but slightly grainy damson toffee.
I scoured the internet for a solution and found people with the same problem were given only vague suggestions of how to solve it. It’s a common problem, I gather, because of the high pectin content in damsons. I blame it on the fact that I boiled the mixture too quickly and for too long.
We decided to make the best of a bad job by taking the matter into our own (sticky) hands. I turfed both lots of preserve back into a pan with a kettle full of hot water and slowly melted down the thick globules of jam until it was a homogenous syrup. I then got Ed’s help to sieve it to get rid of any lumps and brought it back up to a rolling boil for 5 minutes to reset it, using the ‘cold saucer’ method to check for a set.
It worked!
We now have 5 jars of perfectly smooth lightly set damson jam…and a kitchen ‘what looks like we done a murder’.
Things we make 
Jacob Butler
September 18, 2011
It’s that time of year again!
Delia is good on damson jam. Basically everything well boiled before you put any sugar in. Our damson turned out fine. Better to have it too runny rather than overcooked. I don’t attempt to take out the stones as they add to the flavour and it’d take hours anyway.
Just did a plum “clafoutis” which is basically yorkshire pudding with fruit instead of sausage.
Looking forwards to sloes and something french called “prunelle” which I’m going to have a go at.
Then there’s blackberry coulis (on vanilla ice-cream etc!!)
Rufus' Food and Spirits Guide
September 18, 2011
What a cool photo. Glad it all turned out in the end.
hopeeternal
September 18, 2011
Glad I am not the only one with plum jam problems. Two years running I have made greengage toffee and it is useful to know that the pectin content of plums can cause problems. I had wondered about making a Fruit Leather, which is eaten in strips as a sort of fruity toffee. I would have been an experiment but I would have poured it into shallow trays (perhaps on greaseproof paper) and then cut into strips. Next year though, I will crack the jam problem!
hopeeterna;
‘Meanderings through my Cookbook’
thingswemake.co.uk
September 21, 2011
The boy wanted me to make some sort of fruit leather with it, but I could see that ending up in a sticky mess!
Sally
September 19, 2011
Sadly don’t have that problem, or any problem of a glut of soft fruit here but storing away that info about damsons for the day that I do. Absolutely love the photo with the blackened jars and spoons.
....RaeDi
September 19, 2011
Love your picture and we have a couple of plum trees, two plums this year (I know !) next year I will remember when making jams….RaeDi
Michael Baker
March 8, 2014
I discovered a gold mine of Damsons quite by accident in a parking bay here in South Australia some years ago and I have been building up my stocks ever since. My cellar soon resembled the store room of a Farmers Market with jars of Delia’s chutney, Pickled Damsons and jars of Damson Jam of course. Alas, I moved from the area and Ino longer have a cellar. Just to let you know the draw power of the Damsons still entices me to make a 300 mile round trip every couple of years returning with loads of the goodies. Just thought I would let you know that we Damson people are a world wide bunch!!! ……….. Michael.