I've been gifted enough surplus damsons this year here at Struan Farm to play, hooray.
Enough are now squirrelled away in the freezer for winter Syrian 7 Spice damson jam making, my first batch of red wine damson vinegar is still percolating away in the panty, and I've had a positive test run dehydrating them to make prunes. I'm about to make a second batch of the vinegar and de-stone considerably more damsons to make a real batch of prunes shortly.
And then I thought: damson gin, why not give it a try?! Apparently this is the most popular thing done by people with damsons, although I clearly march to a different drummer. John enjoys an occasional G&T, and I would have one in the interest of research. Lynda Hallinan has an easy Damson Gin recipe in her wonderful book "Damsons: From Hedgerow to Harvest."
Washed and dried damsons are pricked and then packed into a one litre glass jar, into which 1/2 cup of sugar is poured. The jar is then topped up with gin, lidded, and shaken gently to help the sugar dissolve. It is then put away out of direct light for six months or longer. I've just made one jar to avoid depleting John's entire stash of gin (we're not big drinkers, obviously!). The boozy fruit can be used on ice cream once the gin is strained off.
This is clearly one of those stay tuned situations.
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