Damson Paste

A community recipe by mounty

Not tested or verified by Nigella.com

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Introduction

This recipe is courtesy of Maggie Beer's wonderful book "Maggie's Harvest"

Ingredients

Serves: lots

damson (stalks removed and washed)
superfine sugar

Method

Damson Paste is a community recipe submitted by mounty and has not been tested by Nigella.com so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe.

Place the plums in a large, heavy-based preserving pan and cook for 30-40 minutes until soft, either in a 150C oven, with a little water in the pan to avoid burning, or on the stove in just enough water to cover them.

Allow to cool slightly, then separate the flesh from the stones and puree the pulp in a food processor.

Weigh the pulp and return it to the rinsed-out pan. For each kilogram of pulp, add 800 g sugar. Cook the paste over a low heat to dissolve the sugar, stirring constantly.

Increase the temperature and continue cooking, stirring frequenrtly, until the greater part of the syrup has evaporated.

By this time the pulp will have become quite stiff and require constant stirring to avoid burning. The paste is ready when it comes away from the sides of the pan. This whole process will take about 2 hours.

Coat a baking dish with a little superfine sugar and add the paste, spreading it out to about a 1 cm thickness.

Dry the paste in the sun on a warm afternoon or overnight in a warm place such as a gas oven with the pilot light left on.

Remove from tray and wrap in baking paper, storing in the pantry, not the refrigerator, for up to several months.