16 Oct 2018

A Harvest of Quince and The Best Recipe for Quince Jelly. Now where's my runcible spoon?

I'm feeling rather pleased with myself and slightly uneasy at the same time. Why, you may ask. Let me tell you.



Having wanted to grow proper quinces for several years, this year my tree has produced the goods. I counted 40 this year, a thrilling effort from this four year old tree. To have forty quinces gives plenty of scope for trying out new ways of cooking and preserving. But if there's this many this year, what of the future?  I've read of massive gluts and that's when I start to get jittery. Forty I can cope with; eighty or more might start to feel like overwhelm. Do we really know what we want to do with a wealth of quinces? It's one of those 'Be careful what you wish for' moments.

My desire for a quince tree started in 2012 when I noticed the round fruits of Chaenomeles x superba growing in the gardens at Capel Manor where I was studying. I was told that they were edible, like quince. Seems reasonable as the plant's common name is Japanese Quince. I snaffled a few from the ground and made membrillo.  It was jolly good.

I also used some to make a tea infusion.  I'd heard that Lithuanians traditionally steep slices of raw quince in hot water and honey to make a soothing winter drink. Apparently the fruit is a good source of vitamin C, as well as copper, magnesium and other very useful minerals. I made some with Japanese Quince and was singularly unimpressed; it didn't taste of much.  Obviously I needed proper quinces for this.  (Perhaps I should try again with one of this season's Cydonia quinces.)

So why bother with Cydonia (real) quince when you can use Chaenomeles? Both have an aroma, although quince will perfume an entire room, and both have fruit that goes pink when cooked.  I remember Japanese Quince (Chaenomeles) being quite sharp flavoured, a bit like having lemon in tea so I'm going to guess that Cydonia quinces are slightly sweeter, possibly with more depth of flavour. (Or maybe it's the other way round? Foraging might be in order when the rain stops. If anyone reading this knows, please tell!)

I'm having a bit of fun trying out various ways of using my quinces.  After a weekend of rain, several of the fruit had split so were quickly picked and turned into a quince crumble using a Nigel Slater recipe from his fruit book 'Tender, vol II'.  It was nice, in fact the topping was delicious, but it's not a patch on plum crumble!

(The online link to the Slater recipe is here; make a note of the topping ingredients and enjoy Nigel's writing!)

After that, I was rooted in indecision for a while - there's more choice than just membrillo - but rediscovered this recipe for Old Fashioned Quince Jelly in my National Trust Preserves book. I had more split quinces that needed to be used quickly before they went brown and this recipe is one you just get on with. No peeling, coring or boring stuff. Just chop the quinces up, chuck into a pan, cover with water, cook, strain overnight, add sugar to the juice and boil.

The result is a beautiful clear jelly, sweet with a definite quince taste and scent. I had a enough left over for another half jar so have tried it out today on bread and butter; it's delicious. I like that its recommended uses are either for savoury (to go with lamb, cold meats, cheese, etc, like a redcurrant jelly) or topped with cream in a cake or, even better, spread on toasted muffins or scones! Now you're talking. Here's the finished result - four (and a half) little jars of deliciousness.  Now where's my runcible spoon?

And I still have a bowl of quinces in the kitchen ... possibly for pickling.




Old Fashioned Quince Jelly

1.35kg (3lb) ripe quinces
Water to cover
Thinly pared rind and juice of 1 large lemon (unwaxed)
Granulated sugar

Wash the quinces, rub off any down. Don't peel or core them but chop roughly into a large pan and just cover with water. Add the lemon rind then simmer gently until the fruit is soft and pulpy (about an hour). Stir in the lemon juice and strain through a jelly bag overnight.

Next day, measure the juice and pour into a clean pan. Add warmed sugar (I put mine in the oven at 140°C for 10 minutes) allowing 450g to each 600ml juice. (I had 900ml juice so used 675g sugar - and, yes, I did very gently squeeze the jelly bag to get the last of the juice from the pulp.)

Heat gently, stirring to completely dissolve the sugar, then bring to boil and boil rapidly until setting point is reached. 104°C if you have a sugar thermometer, or wrinkly spoonful on a cold plate if not.

Skim, then pot into hot/warm clean, sterilised jars, cover and seal.  (I washed my jars, rinsed well and dried them in the oven after the sugar was warmed.)




17 comments:

  1. The colour of that quince jelly is divine!

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    1. Isn't it just! Worth growing quinces for, in my opinion. And that photo was taken on a very rainy, grey day. Imagine the sun shining through!

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  2. I've never had quince - it's not a common fruit around here. Your jelly looks lovely!

    I thoroughly enjoy jelly recipes in the little amount of prep they need since everything is essentially strained out - our favourite right now is plum jelly, hands down. I too squeeze the bag as crystal clear isn't as important to me as getting out as much of that deliciousness as I can :)

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    1. Quince isn't very easily found here either, Margaret - unless you grow your own! I don't think I've seen quince trees on allotment sites either, although plenty of allotmenteers grow apples, pears and plums. I'm not sure people know what to do with quince whereas other fruit is a no-brainer.
      The fruit does need preparation before it can be eaten and I'm enjoying exploring all the options! I agree about jelly, so delicious, although I did wonder if anything could be made with the pulp (before I tossed it into the compost!). :D x

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  3. Looks and sounds delicious! I have added the odd Japanese quince to apple crumble and it does have a lovely flavour.

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    1. Thanks, Pauline! I think a combination of the two fruits would have better results than plain quince. I might try that next week when my niece comes over to dinner.

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  4. I think quinces have a slight honey flavour. How did you manage to chop your quinces? Ours are rock hard in the centre.

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    1. I used a sturdy 10" kitchen knife with a very sharp blade, Sue - and put all my strength behind it! The fruit that had split seemed to be easier to chop. I'm also quite used to dealing with pineapples and pomegranates which can be hard to slice!

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    2. Also, I use a melon baller to get the core and pips out then neaten that up with a knife. It's all pretty hard work though!

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  5. That jelly does sound good. I've never tasted quince, I must make an effort too!I am always overwhelmed by my apple tree, it has thousands of apples on it each year, I pass them around the neighbours but most go in the green bin sadly.xxx

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    1. How lovely to have such a productive apple tree, Dina - although I imagine you're not alone in being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of fruit. My niece had a very productive tree in the garden of the house she rented and stewed/froze the fruit for year round apple pies!

      In London, The Orchard Project takes unwanted apples and pears to make into our local cider or perry - donations of 3kg are exchanged for a bottle of the finished product which seems like a good deal to me. :D Worth checking if there's anything like that near you or a farmer's market where you could sell the apples to fundraise for your animal shelter? xx

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  6. I have no idea with quince, is it almost similar to apple or pear?

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    1. Quince is most often compared with pear, Endah, as it has a slightly grainy texture (like pear) but it has a flavour of its own, hard to describe but with hints of honey or rose and with no smell or taste of pear! The fruit is very hard and has to be cooked before eating.
      Also, quince is a tree fruit but the tree is much smaller than a pear tree!

      I can't find any reference to it in Indonesia but try reading this Wiki page in Indonesian:
      https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quince

      Hope this helps - let me know if you find any quince!

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    2. Thank you, for your information. I can imagine a bit of quince

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  7. Wow 40 quinces is quite a harvest, your recipes sound wonderful. If you are still searching for inspiration look at quincetree65blogspot for quince recipe ideas. Sarah x

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    1. It's brilliant that quince trees are not too prolific to begin with, I'm not sure what I'd do with more than 40 (maybe make more jelly!). Thanks for letting me know about the quince tree blog, there are some nice recipes there. In fact, I think I used to read it a few years ago so it was good to find it again. x

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  8. You asked if you could do anything with the pulp. Well you can mash it, add half weight of sugar (or less according to taste) and cook it in a pan for about 30 mins, stirring often. Then spread the paste onto a baking sheet and let it dry. This can take up to a week. Cut it into pieces, leave it or roll it in caster sugar or dessicated coconut. Eat as sweets. Pam You can also put quarters of quince in a roasting tin with meat like you might roast pototoes. They go soft this way in 30 mins.

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