Damson Jam

The next three recipes on my blog are a bit of a autumnal plum special. Two of my favourite fruits are in season and they both happen to be plums damson and greengage. The harvest is very short on these kinds of plum so you'd better be quick and source them if want to make these recipes.

In another note, my lovely friend Etienne who has been taking all my pictures for this blog has had to stop due to his busy schedule on a fashion magazine and producing music. He's been getting up at the time rock stars go to bed to come take pictures at Kaffeine, for that I'm eternally grateful and happy. His skills, friendship and dedication has been amazing.

Sadiq, who originally put my blog together, encouraged me to write down all my recipes is back and he's taken a fresh batch of super lovely pictures for everyone's viewing pleasure. So expect to see some extra little features and a makeover shortly. In the mean time let's go bats over plums.

1.2kg damson plums, washed
1kg sugar
1 lemon

Method:
Put plums in a large heavy-based saucepan and place over a low-medium heat, stir every now and then so the plums don't burn to the bottom of the pan. Once the plums have started to break down and are lightly simmering, add the juice of the lemon and sugar. Turn up the heat to high, stir gently and leave to cook for about 25 minutes. Place a small saucer in the fridge to chill, you will need this to test setting point once jam is cooked. Stir the jam once in while to prevent burning, but try to resist the urge to continuously stir the jam as this will affect the setting. To test if the jam is ready, spoon a small amount onto the chilled saucer and leave in the fridge for 1 minute, then run your finger through the jam. If the jam wrinkles and doesn't merge back together then it's ready. Pour the jam through a fine sieve and using a wooden spoon push through the flesh and discard the stones. Then ladle the jam into sterilised jars and screw on the lids while still warm. Leave to set for a couple of days before using.

Damson Friands

Damson are one of my favourite fruits to cook with, quite sour and not really edible in its raw state. These small cherry-sized plums tend to make an appearance in September (autumn) for around 3 weeks and then you'll have to wait another year to harvest. The best way to enjoy damsons are stewed or jellied then pushed through a sieve to remove the stones. Since the season is so short, I tend to buy up in large quantities and freeze them for later use.

600g flaked almonds
300g caster sugar
250g good quality salted butter
100ml butter milk
10 egg whites
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

ICING:
300g wild damson
150g caster sugar
3 tablespoons water
300g cream cheese
100g mascarpone

METHOD:

Place butter in a small saucepan and melt over medium heat until it becomes foamy then remove from heat and leave to stand. Ground almonds in food processor until they are fine like breadcrumbs (might take several minutes to get this consistency). Place the ground almonds in a large mixing bowl with sugar, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and mix together until combined. Add the buttermilk, egg whites, vanilla, butter to the dry mixture and beat together for 2 minutes.

To bake friands grease friand pan with either oil spray or butter and 3/4 fill each mould. Bake in a pre-heated oven set at 180ºC for 25 minutes.

To make the icing put damson, water and sugar in sauce pan and place over a high heat, cook for about 10 minutes until a syrup forms then remove from heat. Pass the damson through a sieve and using the back of a spoon push through the flesh and discard the stones. Put cream cheese and mascarpone in mixing bowl then add 3/4 of the damsom syrup, beat until well combined. Using a tablespoon place a large dot of icing on top of each friand followed by 1 teaspoon of damson syrup.