Quince Jelly and Quince Paste

I’ve never grown quinces myself but my friend Dominique has a tree and gave me a bagful this year. I had to read up about them and decided that I would make quince jelly and quince paste (the only things I had ever heard done with quinces). See also Poached Quinces. Quinces are a strange fruit (full of fibre and vitamin C) that magically turn a deep ruby red colour after you cook them for a long period of time.

I found this recipe from Annabel Langbein where you can make both quince jelly and quince paste from the same quinces. She cooks the fruit whole but I cut them at least in half to make sure there were no codling moth larvae inside and to cut out any black spot as well. The recipe still worked but it took longer than 80 minutes for the fruit and syrup to turn red (I was starting to wonder what I could have done wrong but it did turn eventually).

1 litre water
2.5kg sugar + about 4 cups extra for Quince Paste
8 (2.5-3kg) medium whole quinces

Bring sugar and water to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar (15 minutes).

Wash the quinces, removing any fuzz, and add them to the syrup.

Simmer until mixture turns deep, dark red (about 80 minutes or more), turning fruit now and then so it cooks evenly.

I was waiting and waiting and then suddenly the liquid turned red.

Quince Jelly

Carefully lift fruit from syrup and set aside to make Quince Paste. To test whether the syrup is ready to form a jelly, drop a spoonful onto a chilled saucer and allow to cool for a few seconds. The surface should set – push it with your fingertip; if it wrinkles up, it’s ready. If not, simmer a further 10-15 minutes then retest. Pour into hot, sterilised jars and seal.

Quince Paste

Allow the reserved cooked quinces to cool before removing and discarding the cores. Purée the flesh then measure the purée. For every cup of purée stir in 1/2 cup sugar.

Preheat oven to 50˚C fanbake and line 2 sponge roll tins or a large roasting dish with baking paper. Transfer the purée to prepared tin/s and spread evenly – it should be about 3-4cm thick. Bake until firm enough to slice (24-30 hours depending on thickness of purée). Cool, slice and store in a jar of caster sugar in a cool place.

Mine took a very long time to set enough to slice and it was thinner than the recommended 3-4 cm. I ended up slicing it as best I could and putting the ‘squares’ back in the oven to firm up some more.