Not literally a ton of damsons… 1% of a ton in fact. But it’s a ton of work picking, stoning and preserving 10 kilos of damsons. Don’t let that put you off if you spot a tree though, they’re well worth the effort. I’ll post full recipe details shortly but in the meantime here’s my Times on-line style ‘5 ways with …‘ spotlight on damsons. Drum roll please, in order of success and recommendation here are my tried and tested
5 ways with … a ton of damsons
(quantities here are the amounts I used not the amounts you need to have!)
making dambeena
4kg of damsons boiled and strained to make 3.5 litres of Pam Corbin’s dambeena cordial. Unlike other cordials or jellies the leftover fruit pulp can be saved to make a delicious pie filling, a hot sauce to pour over ice-cream or mixed with double cream. 4kg of fruit pulp after straining and removing the stones produced 4 jam jars of puree. 
making damson jam
1.1kg made about 6 jars of jam. I was thrilled to bits with how tasty my first ever jam making attempt turned out and it was given a big thumbs up by our visitors last week. Hints of citrus and cinnamon intesified the flavour of the damsons beautifully. (click here for recipe)
making damson muffins
I found this recipe in a copy of Waitrose Food magazine from September 2007 (thanks for letting me pinch it Lei). It uses oil and yoghurt instead of butter and the damsons cook beautifully added raw to the sugared cake mix. I had a wonderful assistant for this batch of baking but you’ll have to wait to find out who… (update: damson muffins recipe here)
making damson chutney
1.35kg of damsons made into a dozen 110ml jars of Delia’s spiced damson chutney. It cooks down to a very soft jam like consistency and is delicately spiced with cloves, all spice and ginger. (click here for recipe)
freezing damsons
to delay decision making about other recipes to try! 3kg, about 10 litres, de-stoned while watching a film with George (be warned it’ll take about 40 minutes per kilo and requires a big dose of patience and a not easily irritated husband!). I’ve still got purple stained fingers and a sore thumb so I’d recommend wearing latex gloves for this. 
bottling damsons
1.2kg bottled in syrup. I used kilner jars and wasn’t convinced that the seals were airtight because drops of liquid kept seaping out of the side and puddling on the worktop for about a week after. Initially I I thought it was fermenting (suspicious looking bubbles at the top of the jar) but it seems to have dried off now and the bubbles have gone. If I bottled fruit again I’d use jam jars and I can’t really vouch for the success of this method yet. At least there shouldn’t be any bacteria in the jar as I topped them off with spoonful of cherry brandy.
If you thought you’d spotted a deliberate mistake there with 6 options I don’t think ‘freezing‘ really qualifies as a recipe! I’m not really advocating bottling either so I actually need to offer you one more don’t I? How about an alternative use for damson jam and a swirly dance with some cream to make Steve Parle’s perfect damson ripple ice-cream. Summer sunshine and melting ice creams may be long forgotten but don’t you just want to lean in and give this a lick! 
Steve Parle is a former River Cafe cook and writes food posts for the Observer Organic Allotment blog. I’ve not made Steve’s ice-cream yet so this is his blog photo not mine.
If you enjoyed this roundup post you might find something to inspire here too ..
5 ways with .. a ton of apples
5 ways with .. a ton of beetroot
Your foraging is really working out. I want to go where you go, can I come along next time….I know I would be welcome, just the distance….boo hoo
I’m spoilt MC, there are two trees on my plot, one behind the shed and one to the side of the jerusalem artichokes. You’re welcome to come down next year ;o) there’s more than enough to go around!
I successfully made damson and bramley apple crumble with some of ‘nip it in the buds’ beautiful damsons yesterday.. it was delicious served with ice cream. had to borrow an oven mind you as mine blew up unfortunately.. x
hooray, you made it, a bet it was delicious! just think of all those other lovely baked goodies you’ll be able to try when your oven is fixed. I’ll be posting the muffins soon with my mystery guest….
I love damsons, reminds me of my childhood when we live in Shropshire, there were damson trees everywhere! The Dambeena looks delicious, must try it with plums, haven’t seen any damsons here at all.
Nic,you’re so clever! I can’t believe you’ve never made jam before…truly delicious! x
I’m glad you liked it birthday girl ;o)
2011 – this year’s update – after 2009’s bumper crop, last year’s damson harvest wasn’t so good, but this year it’s looking promising on the trees. I think they often skip a year like that after a big crop. I pruned the tree in the autumn of 2010 too so that probably helped. I purchased some demi-johns to make rhubarb wine – there’s one empty one which is reserved for damson wine – I’ll ask N to blog about it when it’s done.
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I use a gadget designed to remove stones from cherries and olives to remove the stones from damsons – it works a treat!
I’ve been wondering if my cherry pitter would be up to the task (acquired long after I wrote this post). Now I’ve got a toddler there is so much less time for making preserves – damsons bunged in whole to make cordial is about the extent of it!
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