Quince Paste

by

Description

The quince is an old-fashioned, intensely aromatic, and dearly loved fruit. It is not an easy fruit to prepare, as it needs to be poached or cooked before it can be used in recipes. Quince paste is a wonderful accompaniment to cheese and crackers-try chevre as well as other mild, firm cheeses. You can also serve it for breakfast in place of jam.

Ingredients

  • 4 ½ pounds ripe quinces
  • 5 ½ cups white sugar
  • water to cover

Instructions

  1. Wash
  2. peel
  3. and core the quinces
  4. reserving the cores and peels. Coarsely chop the flesh and transfer the fruit to a large pan. Wrap the cores and peels in cheesecloth
  5. tie the bag with kitchen string
  6. and add it to the pan. (The peels contain most of the fruit’s pectin
  7. which contributes to the firmness of the quince paste.)
  8. Pour in enough water to cover the quinces and boil
  9. half-covered
  10. for 30 to 40 minutes or until the fruit is very soft. Remove the bag of peels and pass the quince flesh through a sieve or food mill. (For best results
  11. don’t use a food processor as it will result in too fine a texture.) You should have about 2 1/2 pounds of fruit pulp.
  12. Transfer the quince pulp to a saucepan and add the sugar (ideally
  13. you should add the same amount of sugar
  14. by weight
  15. as the fruit pulp). Cook and stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking for about 1 1/2 hours
  16. stirring frequently with a wooden spoon
  17. until the paste becomes very thick and has a deep orange color. Draw the wooden spoon along the bottom of the saucepan: it should leave a trail and the quince mixture will stick to the spoon.
  18. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish or line it with greased parchment paper. Transfer the quince paste to the baking dish
  19. spreading it about 1 1/2-inch thick. Smooth the top and allow it to cool.
  20. Dry the paste on your lowest oven setting
  21. no more than 125 degrees F (52 degrees C)
  22. for about 1 1/2 hours. Allow the quince paste to cool completely before slicing. (In Europe
  23. the traditional method of drying the quince paste is to leave it in a cupboard for about 7 days. The remaining juices will continue to evaporate and render a drier paste.)
  24. Store quince paste in an airtight container in the refrigerator; the color will deepen with age.

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 3 hrs 30 mins

Total Time: 5 hrs

Servings: 32

Leave a Comment