The Shopshire Prune - A Damson

Just got back from the Ludlow Food Festival where I went to a taste workshop on Damsons - specifically the Shropshire Prune. I have planted one of these trees in the kitchen garden and was very keen to find out how to make the most of it. We sat down to a plate of lemon scones with damson jam, pork pie with Damson Chutney, Damson Cheese, Damson Icecream (dipped in chocolate) all washed down with Damson Gin. Well food for thought as they say. This variety is not the largest of the Damsons and more egg shaped than some but supposed to be superior in flavour.

I got home to find my Damson tree laden with beautifully ripe fruit - Damsons can be lip puckeringly sharp but this year they are lovely and sweet. Here is my first picking. The fruit has a lovely blueish bloom on the skins. I'm going to make some jam and puree the rest for the freeze. The next bowl full are destined for a bottle of gin.

The Shropshire Prune has been adopted into the Slow Food Ark visit the blog here for more information and recipes. I'm definitely going to try the ice cream. 

Word of warning, it is best to make sure you remove all the stones when using them in cooking. You can otherwise spend happy hours playing Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor with all the stones and new teeth are expensive!