Recipes & Ideas


Here in the Damson Collection kitchen, we're always working on new and tasty recipes using our products.  Some of our favourites are below.  We will be adding new recipes regularly, so keep checking back. 

We'd love to hear from you with any recipes you have to share. Just complete the comments form.



 Damson Paste

Blue Cheese Crostini
  • 1 French Stick
  • Olive Oil
  • 120gms of blue cheese
  • 1 60gm pot of The Damson Collection Damson Paste
  • Handful of walnuts
 

Preheat the oven to 150ºC. Cut thin slices from the french stick on the diagonal. Brush both sides of each slice with olive oil and place on a baking tray. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the bread is light and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Store in an air tight container until ready to use. These
can be made 2 or 3 days in advance.

To assemble, take a slice of crostini and spread with approximately 5grms of Damson Paste. Add a slice of blue cheese and place half a walnut on the top.

Makes approximately 12 servings.


Cheese Board 
  • Digestive biscuits
  • Water crackers
  • Wedge blue cheese
  • Wedge of aged cheddar
  • Wedge or small round of brie or camembert
  • 1 pot of The Damson Collection Damson Paste
  • Walnuts & almonds
  • Muscatels & grapes
 

Take cheese out of the refrigerator several hours before serving to allow cheese to come up to room temperature.  Arrange ingredients decoratively on a platter.

Serves 6-8 people.


 Pork Canapés
  • 180gms flour
  • 200mls milk
  • Pinch of salt
  • 75mls water
  • 30gms melted butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 200grms
  • Pork Loin
  • 1 pot of The Damson Collection Damson Paste
  • 20 Sage leaves
  • Handful of rocket
 

To make pancakes, sift flour and salt into a bowl, make a well in the centre and add in eggs, milk, water and melted butter. Whisk ingredients together until there are no lumps remaining. Set aside for 10 minutes. Place a pan over a medium heat and pour in a ladle full of batter. When the batter is brown on one side turn it over and brown the other side. Stack pancakes and keep warm. Extra pancakes can be frozen for use at a later stage.

Heat a pan or griddle until hot. Place the pork loin in the pan and sear on all sides, this should take approximately 6 minutes. Remove the pork and cover to keep warm. Rest for 10-12 minutes. Add sage leaves to the pan and cook until crispy. Set aside.

To assemble, take a pancake and spread liberally with ½ the Damson Paste. Slice pork loin and place pieces on top of the Damson Paste. Add half the crispy sage and rocket.

Roll up the pancake length ways and slice into 3cm pieces. Repeat process until pork is used. Serve warm.

Serves 6-8 people.


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Damson Liqueur

 Whole Poached Plums
  • 400gms brown sugar
  • 500 ml water
  • 2 star anise
  • 8 rich dark plums
  • 2 tsps of The Damson Collection Damson Liqueur
 

Place water and sugar in a medium size saucepan. Heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add star anise and bring the syrup to a boil. Add plums and place a single layer of parchment paper directly on top of the fruit. Bring syrup back to the boil.Reduce heat to a simmer and cook plums for 5-8 minutes or until tender but not soft. The plums will lose their shape if they are overcooked. The cooking time for the plums will depend on the variety of the plum and the ripeness of the fruit.

Using a slotted spoon remove Poached Plums from the syrup and set aside to cool. Leave remaining juices on the heat for a further 5 minutes to reduce slightly. Remove from the heat and add Damson Liqueur.

Set aside to cool. Serve fruit and syrup at room temperature together or separately.


Damson Champagne Cocktail 
  • 1 x bottle The Damson Collection Damson Liqueur
  • 1 x bottle of sparkling wine or champagne
 

Chill both the damson liqueur and the champagne/sparkling wine.

Pour 20ml (or to taste) of Damson Liqueur into the bottom of a tall champagne flute. Fill with champagne / sparkling wine.


Damson Drizzle on Ice Cream 
  • 30ml of The Damson Collection Damson Liqueur (or to taste)
  • 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
  • Fruit or berries
 

Place ice cream into a dessert bowl.  

Pour the Damson Liqueur over the ice cream. Garnish with your favourite fruits or berries.

Serve immediately.

1 Serving.


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Damson Jelly 

Venison Burgers with Blue Cheese & Damson Jelly
  • 4 venison burgers
  • 1 jar of The Damson Collection Damson Jelly
  • 100 gms of your favourite blue cheese
  • mayonnaise
  • rocket
  • 4 good sized burger buns
  • tomatoes
 

Prepare the venison as you would normally (BBQ, Grill, Fry). Melt blue cheese on patty just before seving.

Prepare your buns with Damson Jelly on the bottom bun, place patty (including cheese) on top of jelly, top with rocket and tomato slice and put a dollop of mayonnaise to taste on top bun.


Panfried Venison with Damson Jus 
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 thick venison steaks/ venison loin
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 150ml game/beef stock
  • 2 tbsp The Damson Collection Damson Jelly
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 85g blackberries (optional)
 

 Heat oil in frying pan, cook venison for 5 minutes. Then turn over and cook for 3-5 minutes more, depending on how rare you like it. Rest meat.

Add balsamic vinegar to pan, pour in stock, Damson Jelly and garlic. Stir over quite a high heat to blend everything together. If using, add blackberries and cook until soft.

Drizzle over meat and serve.


Easiest Ever Tarte Tatin 
  •  25g butter
  • 180g The Damson Collection Damson Jelly
  • 800g firm plums, not too ripe, halved and stoned
  • 100g golden marzipan
  • 500g packet puff pastry, thawed if frozen
  • Pouring cream to serve
 

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/fan 180C. Melt the butter in a 28cm tarte tatin
tin over a medium heat on the hob. Spoon in the Damson Jelly cook for a
minute or so until butter and jelly have amalgamated. Remove from the heat
and put in the plums, cut side up.

Chop the marzipan into as many chunks as there are plum halves and put a
chunk of marzipan in the hole in each plum left by the stone. Sprinkle a small
pile of ground almonds over each plum half.

Roll out the pastry and trim to 3cm larger than the tin all round. Lift the pastry
on to the tin and tuck it down between the plums and the inside of the tin. (You
can chill the tart ready for baking for up to 24 hours.) Bake for 30-35 minutes,
until the pastry is risen, crisp and golden. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then
place a large flat plate with a rim over the tin. Holding it over the sink in case
of drips, carefully invert the tart on to the plate. Some juice from the plums is
likely to escape, which is why you need a rim on the plate, but it's delicious,
especially when mingled with pouring cream.


Plum Tart

Short Crust Pastry:

  • 1 1/4 cups (175g) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp (2g) salt
  • 1 tbsp (14g) granulated white sugar
  • 113g unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1/8 to 1/4 cup (30 - 60 ml) ice water

Plum Filling:

  • 680g fresh ripe plums
  • 100g The Damson Collection Damson Jelly
  • 2-3 tablespoons (30-40 grams) granulated white sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
 

Short Crust Pastry:
In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). Pour 1/8 cup (30 ml) water in a slow, steady stream until the pastry just holds together when pinched. Add remaining water, if necessary. Do not process more than about 30 seconds.

Turn the pastry out onto your work surface, gather it into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour.

Once the pastry has chilled, remove from refrigerator and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry into a 35 cm square. Transfer the pastry to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Cover and place
in the refrigerator while you slice the plums.

Plum Filling:
Wash the plums. Cut the plum into halves and remove the stone. You will need about 4 cups (454g) of halved plums. Place the plums in a large bowl and season with a pinch of salt. Then add about 3 to 4 tbsp (30 - 40g) of granulated white sugar, or to taste.

With a pastry brush, brush the Damson Jelly across the whole pastry base. Arrange plums randomly on the pastry, leaving about a 5 cm wide border around the edges. Drizzle any remaining Damson Jelly over the top of the plums, scrape any remaining sugar from the bowl and sprinkle over the plums.

Gently fold the edges of the pastry up and over the plums, pleating as necessary. Make sure to seal any cracks in the pastry.

Bake the tart in a preheated 220 C (425 F) oven for about 35 - 45 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Reduce heat by 10 C (25 F) if the pastry starts to burn.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Best served warm, within an hour of baking, with vanilla ice cream.


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Damson Coulis

 Damson Cheesecake
 

Crust

  • 210gms of superwine biscuits
  • 110gms of unsalted butter, softened

Filling

  • 250gms cream cheese
  • 125gms caster sugar
  • 5ml vanilla extract
  • 250ml cream
  • 166ml of The Damson Collection Damson Coulis
 

Mix together biscuits and softened butter. Press into a tin and refrigerate.

Beat together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a bowl until smooth and spreadable. Whip the cream. Whisk the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture, continue whisking until smooth. Stir in 1/3 of the bottle of Damson Coulis.

Pour cream cheese mixture into the prepared crust. Smooth the top with a spatula, and refrigerate until firm, about 2 to 3 hours. Remove from the fridge and pour the remainder of the Damson Coulis onto the top of the cheesecake and refrigerate until serving.


 
 Apple Flapjack Trifle
  • 100g porridge oats
  • 1tsp mixed spice
  • 50g light muscovado sugar
  • 50g butter

Filling

  • 7-8 apples, depending on size
  • 25g butter
  • 25g golden caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp of The Damson Collection Damson Coulis
  • 500g carton fresh custard
  • 284ml double cream
 

Mix oats, spice and sugar. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the oats and fry for about 5 mins, stirring all the time, until they are lightly toasted and crisp (they become crisper still on cooling). Tip into a bowl and leave to cool. Peel, core and thickly slice apples. Melt butter in the frying pan until foaming, add apples and fry quickly over a fairly high heat, flipping them over when they start to colour. Sprinkle over the sugar and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, until the apples are slightly softened. Leave to cool.

Layer half the apples and almost half the oats in a glass serving dish, repeat, setting aside a few oats. Drizzle over the Damson Coulis, then spoon over the custard. Whip the cream until stiff, then spoon over the custard and scatter over remaining oats.

Serve straight away or chill for up to 6 hours.

 Serves 6 - Prep 10 mins, Cook 15 mins.


Damson Meringue Crush 
  • 4 Meringues, crushed
  • 250ml cream
  • 1/2 bottle of The Damson Collection Damson Coulis
 

Lightly crush meringues leaving some pieces larger than others to create texture. Next, whip the cream until it forms firm peaks.

Layer the meringue in a glass dish or tall glass and spoon some whipped cream on top.

Drizzle with the Damson Coulis and repeat these layers until you have used all of your meringue, cream and Damson Coulis.

Serves 2.  Prep 5 mins.


 
Damson Chocolate Cake 
  • 125g butter, softened
  • ¾ cup caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla essence
  • ½ cup The Damson Collection Damson Coulis
  • 1 ¼ cups flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ cup cocoa
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 cup milk, warmed
  • ½ cup chocolate chips
 

Grease and line a 22cm round cake tin.

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla and Damson Coulis.

Sift flour, baking powder and cocoa. Dissolve soda in milk.

Fold dry ingredients & milk alternately into butter mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon into tin.

Bake for 45 mins at 180 C.

When cold, smear with chocolate icing.


 Berry Damson Creams
  • 300g Greek yoghurt
  • 2-3 tbsp. runny honey
  • 175g berries
  • 1 bottle The Damson Collection Damson Coulis
 

Beat yoghurt with honey to taste. Divide half the berries between 2 glasses, drizzle with Damson Coulis and spoon over yoghurt. Top with remaining berries and more Damson Coulis. Serve immediately with remaining Damson Coulis.

Alternatively sprinkle crushed gingernut biscuits between layers. Replace yoghurt with sweetened whipped cream and top with grated chocolate.

Serves 2.  Prep 5 mins.


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Damson Jam

Simple Jammy Biscuits
  • 200g self raising flour
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 100g butter
  • 1 egg
  • 4 tbsp The Damson Collection Damson jam
 

Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5.

Rub flour, sugar and butter together unti mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Alternatively you can do this in the food processor. Add enough egg to bring the mixture together to form a stiff dough. Flour your hands and shape dough into a tube, about 5 cm in diameter. Cut into 2cm thick slices and place on a large baking sheet. Space them out as the
mixture will spread during baking.

Make a small indentation in the middle of each slice using the back of a teaspoon and drop a tsp of Damson jam in the centre. Bake for 10 -15 mins until slightly risen and just golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Serves 12

Prep 10 mins, Cook 12 mins.


Damson Jam Bread and Butter Pudding 
  • 85g very soft butter, plus extra for the dish
  • 1 jar The Damson Collection Damson jam
  • Large fresh unsliced white bread loaf (about 800g)
  • 4 eggs
  • 400 ml double cream
  • 400ml milk
  • 85g caster sugar, plus a little extra
  • 1tsp vanilla paste or seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod
 

Butter a deep 2-litre baking dish. Dollop in half the Damson jam and spread over the base of the dish. Trim the crusts and rounded top from the loaf so that you are left with a rectangular block of bread. Cut into 4 thick slices of bread. Whizz the crusts and left over bread into crumbs and freeze for later.

Spread the butter over one side of each slice of bread. Flip the slices over and spread the un- buttered sides with remaining Damson jam. Roll up the slices from the short sides, jam-side inwards, to make 4 fat Swiss rolls. Halve each so you end up with 8 short, squat Swiss rolls. Squish these snugly into the baking dish, cut-sides up, so you can see 8 jam swirls.

Whisk together the eggs, cream and milk, then sieve into a jug with the sugar and vanilla. Give a good stir, then carefully pour over the bread swirls - you may have to do this in stages, letting the custard soak in bit by bit. Let the dish stand at room temperature for 30 mins so the custard continues to soak in.

Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Scatter some more caster sugar over the pudding, then bake for 1 hr-1 hr 15 mins until the top is golden and the custard is gently set. Cool for 5 mins, then serve.

Serves 8

Prep 45 mins, Cook 1hr – 1hr 15mins


 
Damson and Walnut Trifle 
  • butter for buttering the tin
  • 200g walnuts
  • 4 eggs
  • 150g caster sugar
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 75g flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 25g butter, melted
  • 4 tbsp The Damson Collection Damson Jam
  • 4 tbsp The Damson Collection Damson Liqueur
  • 500g vanilla custard
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 300ml cream, whipped
 

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Butter a 30cm x 20cm Swiss Roll tin and line the base with baking paper.

Put 100g of the walnuts in the food processor and grind finely. Set aside.

In a bowl whisk together the eggs sugar and salt until thick and pale. Sift the flour and baking powder over the mixture and gently fold in along with the ground walnuts and the butter. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 15 minutes. Cool.

Cut the walnut sponge into pieces and arrange in the bottom of a 2 litre capacity bowl. In a small bowl or jug, combine the Damson jam and Damson liqueur. Pour this over the sponge then top with the custard cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

To make the praline, heat the oven to 180°C and line a Swiss Roll tin with baking paper.  Scatter the remaining walnuts over and bake for 6 minutes until smelling toasted. Reserve. Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. Boil for 7-8 minutes, without stirring, until the mixture turns a golden colour. Working quickly, pour the mixture evenly over the walnuts. Leave for 5 minutes to harden and cool. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container. This will keep for several days, but if the weather is humid it is best to make it just before serving.

When ready to serve, top the trifle with the whipped cream and scatter the praline on top.

Serves 8.


Damson Chocolate Log 
  • 50g cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting
  • 75g Self-Raising Flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 5 large eggs
  • 100g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
    Filling
  • 1 jar of The Damson Collection Damson Jam
    Topping
  • 300g butter
  • 100g icing sugar
  • 400g dark chocolate, melted.
 

Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Line a 30x40cm swiss roll tin with baking parchment, butter and dust with cocoa.

Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa into a bowl. Beat the eggs and caster sugar with an electric mixer until thick, pale and trebled in volume, about 8 minutes. Fold in the flour mix with a large metal spoon - the less air you squash the better, so do this carefully but quickly. Pour into the tin, tipping the tin as your pour so the batter is even. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until firm to the touch..

Cool the sponge for 2 minutes then turn it out onto a piece of baking parchment dusted with caster sugar. Peel off the lining paper and roll the sponge up using the paper underneath. It may crack a bit but don't worry, you're going to cover it with icing. Cool.

For the filling, melt the Damson Jam slightly so it has a runnier consistency.

For the topping, beat the butter and icing sugar together and fold in the melted chocolate. Leave until cool enough to spread.

Gently unroll the sponge and spread the jam out gently. Reroll the roulade as tightly as you can, using the paper to help you, without squashing out the filling.

Spread the topping over the roulade using a palette knife to give a rough surface and dust with cocoa or icing sugar.

Serves 10.  Ready in one hour.


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 Damson Vinaigrette

 Great uses for Damson Vinaigrette
  • deglace a pan that you've seared duck, lamb, pork or venison
  • mist over fresh salad greens (no puddles)
  • mix with Cathedral Cove Macademia oil and sprinkle over your salad
  • spray over grilled peaches
 

We are always getting great suggestions from our customers on how to use the vinaigrette. These are just a few...


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 Fresh Damson Plums

 Damson Chutney
  • 1350g Damson plums
  • 450g finely chopped cooking apples (cored but not skinned)
  • 450g finely chopped onions
  • 300g finely chopped dried apricots
  • 200g finely chopped dried raisins
  • 225g – 450g brown sugar (depends on how sweet you would like it)
  • 2 finely chopped large cloves of garlic
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp allspice powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 750 ml of white wine vinegar
  • 1 small hot chilli
  • 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 5 juniper berries
  • 10 black peppercorns
 
  1. Stone the plums and if big enough cut into slices.
  2. Chop the apples, onions, raisins and apricots.
  3. Place all ingredients in a large heavy saucepan and bring slowly to a gentle boil
  4. Turn down. the heat immediately and simmer very gently for at least 4 hours until the mixture has broken down and thickened.
  5. Stir from time to time and more towards the end.
  6. When ready pour into sterilised jars and cover.
  7. Wait at least two months before eating, the longer the better.

Stewed Damson Plums
  •  200ml red wine
  • 100ml port
  • 100ml The Damson Collection Damson Liqueur
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 star anise
  • 80g clear honey
  • zest and juice 2 oranges
  • 500g Damson plums, halved and pitted
 

Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Bring the wine, port and Damson Liqueur to the boil in a pan, with the cinnamon and star anise. Reduce by half, then add the honey, orange zest and juice.

Arrange Damson plum halves in an ovenproof dish and gently pour over the liquid. Cover with wet baking parchment and poach in the oven for 15-20 minutes until soft but not exploding. Allow to cool in the liquid.

Serve for breakfast with muesli, rice pudding or simply enjoy on their own.


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