What ELSE can I do with damsons?

[cab]

Got damsons. Lots on my tree on the allotment and several wildling trees are groaning under the weight of them. So many damsons...

Already made jam. And wine is on. And damson gin is on - don't need more liqueurs, got enough of those! And I've already made enough chutney. We don't use much fruit syrup...

So other than leaving them on the trees (which breaks my heart - I don't want all of them but there are SO MANY), or eating crumbles and pies until we both turn purple, what else is good with damsons?

Ta,

Cab.

[edenwildfood]

Fruit leathers? Damson cheese, just freeze a load. Could try a pickle or chutney

[Brewforagegrow]

Post them to Bournemouth

[cab]

Fruit cheese/leather etc. is always one of those things I make and its still lurking in the back of the larder ages and ages later. Its a great idea that I don't use

And I've got a shelf full of chutney already, what with the plum harvest having been so big here.

Ain't got damsons growing down Bournemouth? Too warm maybe?

Just found out there's a local crop-share on Saturday at the library. Think I'll turn up with a bucket of damsons, among other things

[Brewforagegrow]

In fairness there probably are damsons down this way, I just haven't found them yet.
Never seems to be enough time in the day to keep searching for things.

Fruit leathers are awesome. Surprised you don't stick them in your bag as a lightweight snack, I'd have thought they'd be ideal for an active cyclist?

[emmac]

I find fruit leather hurts my teeth. anyone?

[Brewforagegrow]

How hard do you make your fruit leathers!

I find them a lot easier to eat than toffee. And I basically have crap teeth so if anyone else was going to struggle it would be me. Wondering if maybe you cook yours too long or make them too thick /thin.

Saw a load of ripe haws which I'm going to leather up. Happy to post some if you want to try it?

[emmac]

ha, no, it wasn't the hardness it was the sweetness. most dried fruit gives me that so I shouldn't have been surprised. the sugars are majorly concentrated when the fruit is dehydrated

[cab]

Aug 20, 2014 11:16:43 GMT Brewforagegrow said:

In fairness there probably are damsons down this way, I just haven't found them yet.
Never seems to be enough time in the day to keep searching for things.

Fruit leathers are awesome. Surprised you don't stick them in your bag as a lightweight snack, I'd have thought they'd be ideal for an active cyclist?

Errm... Well I suppose but I'm not one of those 'push myself to the limit and and eat nutritional supplement' cyclists, I'm more a 'pootle along and eat a cheese sarny' kind

[Brewforagegrow]

I think "pootle along and eat a cheese sarnie" is the best thing I've heard this week.

We'll, second to a certain twitter bod giving me a rough location he found 3.5ft of chicken of the woods. I'm checking that out tomorrow.

[lucyblack]

Sorry, this is NOT an answer! But it's on the same subject so I hope that's OK. We were out picking sloes today and a fellow forager stopped and asked if we wanted a bag of damsons. He has a mate working on a damson farm and had more than he knew what to do with. Well it would be rude not to! I think he'd had them in the bag for a while though, and some had gone mouldy. We've binned the mouldy ones and given the rest a good soak and wash, but some of them are split/bit squishy.

Do you reckon they'll still be OK for gin? I don't want to contaminate a batch of good damson gin with a few ropey ones.

[cab]

Squishy is fine. Mouldy isn't. 

[lucyblack]

Ace. Squishy damson gin coming up :-)