Damson Preserves

Preserving the damsons so kindly sent by one of my husband's colleagues ... nearly ended in tears. Luckily I had decided to tackle them in two batches, as the first ended in the green bin. Working very late one evening, I thought that I had turned off the gas, but the next morning I realised my error....as I had covered the preserving pan, and the gas was very low, and the pan bottom very thick, there was no lasting harm done.

With the second half I made Damson Cheese, and some chutney.

For the cheese1.4Kg damsons gave 0.75 litre puree after sieving, and with careful evaportion gave 3 x 220 g jars of cheese.

With 1.2Kg damsons, onions, apples, dates, cider vinegar, brown sugar, salt, mustard seeds, ground ginger, and cloves, I made 6 jars of Chutney each 220g net.