This is a easy to make and much loved family recipe.

I will first give you introductions for a yeast dough but you could also use shortcrust.

Step 1: Ingredients

Dough

- 250 g Flour + some extra                                                  2 cups flour + some extra
- 1 Egg                                                                                     1 Egg
- 2 Tbs Sugar                                                                          2 Tbs Sugar
- Salt                                                                                         Salt
- Yeast (fresh or dried, your choice)                                 Yeast
- 125 ml Milk                                                                           1/2 cup Milk
- 60 g Butter (about...)                                                           1/4 cup Butter

This amount will be enough for one baking tray

Damsons

- 1 Kg Damsons    (up to 1,5 Kg)                                         2,2 pounds Damsons (up to 2,8 pounds)
- Breadcrumbs
- Sugar
- Cinnamon

Also you will need:

- 1 large mixing bowl
- a clean surface where you can knead the dough
- a clean cloth or tea towel to cover the dough
- 1 smaller pot to heat milk in
- 1 larger pot for your pitted Damsons
- rolling pin
- 1 baking tray

Step 2: The Dough

- heat Milk and Butter until the Butter is molten.
- incorporate Egg, Sugar and Salt.
- mix together Flour and Yeast ( or do what ever is stated on your Yeast packet)
- when your Milk/Butter/Sugar/Egg/Salt mixture has cooled to lukewarm mix it with the Flour/Yeast mixture
stir all the time while slowly pouring the liquid in.
- Take the dough out on a floured board, flour you hands and knead it. If the dough is very wet add some more flour. If it is to dry you can try to carefully get some water in by kneading it with wet hands.
- go on kneading until the dough is not sticky anymore and until it feels like a kind of soft velvet
- put the dough back in the bowl, cover and set aside for about an hour.

Step 3: Preparing the Damsons

- Wash and pit your Damsons
- halve them and cut every half in the middle without fully separating the quarters
- sprinkle with some sugar

Step 4: Bring Everything Together

- Preheat your oven ( 180°C / ~350°F)
- put some baking paper on your tray

- put your dough on a lightly floured surface and knock it down once
- get your rolling pin, flour it and start rolling out the dough. This might be a bit difficult as the dough will probably be quite elastic but in the end you will succeed :) Transfer the rolled dough to your baking tray and bring it to the right size by dragging it to the corners.
- punch it a few times with a fork
- sprinkle the dough generously with breadcrumbs

- take your prepared Damsons and lay them out an the dough skin facing the dough. Do so as if you would lay out tiles on a roof. So that the second row covers a part of the first.
- sprinkle some more breadcrumbs (you could also take some almond slivers) on top
- put in oven for 3/4 hour

- when finished take out and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon to taste
- serve lukewarm or cold / with or without cream ;)