Quince Jelly Is a Perfect Use For a Forgotten Fruit

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in: Cooking

Basket Of Quince

If you’ve not yet met a quince, you have a treat in store. These fragrant, downy, golden globes, distant relatives of the apple family, are not so much forbidden fruits as forgotten fruits. They ripen in late fall, and by Christmas they’ve all but vanished. If you’re lucky enough to find some, swoop on them and set them on a beautiful plate in the kitchen while you consider what to do with them. While you deliberate, the air will be filled with their delicate, faintly lemony scent, likened by 10th century Arab-Andalusian poet Shafer ben Utman al-Mushafi to the perfume of a loved woman.

A quince tree. Credit: Sue Style

A quince tree. Credit: Sue Style

One idea is to peel and core them and bake them whole in the oven, bathed in a syrup of honey, sugar, lemon juice and water. Done this way, they turn magically from a brilliant daffodil yellow to a burnished coppery color. They’re amazingly good served warm with vanilla ice cream. Or chop them up and turn them into chutney, mixed with oranges, raisins, white wine vinegar, sugar and loads of ginger. For an original apple tart, substitute a quince for one of the apples, peel and grate the fruit together, mix with cream, eggs and sugar and bake in a fragile pastry case. Best of all, turn them into a shimmering jelly, which makes a delightful Christmas gift. Pour into pretty pots, cut fabric hats for the tops and label the jars with pride. Append a little note to each jar explaining to the lucky recipient that quince jelly is magic on toast or melted and brushed over an apple tart to give a glossy, totally professional French pastry shop finish.

Quince Jelly

Makes about 8 (1-pound) jars

Ingredients

8 quince

Sugar

Juice from 1 lemon

Directions

1. Take 8 fine, ripe, yellow quinces, scrub them well to remove any down and cut away any brown bits.

2. Cut the fruit in quarters and chop roughly (no need to remove the peel or cores). They’re very hard, so a good, stout knife will be necessary.

3. Put the chopped flesh in a preserving pan.

4. Add enough water to cover the chopped quinces (about 8 cups, depending on your pan and the size of the quinces).

5. Simmer quince very gently for about 45 minutes or until soft when pierced with a knife.

6. Tip the quince into a colander lined with a muslin or other fine cloth set over a large bowl.

7. Leave overnight to let the juice seep gently out – it’s permissible to give it a bit of a squeeze at the end to extract maximum juice, but don’t overdo this or the juice will be cloudy.

8. Discard all the pulp.

9. Pour juice into a measuring jug. For every 4 cups of liquid, allow 1½ pounds of sugar.

10. Put juice and sugar, plus the juice of 1 lemon, in the preserving pan.

11. Bring to a rolling boil, then boil for 20 to 30 minutes.

12. Start testing for a good set after about 25 minutes: Place a saucer in the freezer, spoon a little jelly onto it, leave for a few seconds, then pull your finger through it. The jelly should wrinkle and form a distinct channel.

13. Pour jelly into sterilized jars and cover while still warm.

14. Eat with a runcible spoon.

Top photo: Freshly picked quince in a basket. Credit: Sue Style

Zester Daily contributor Sue Style lives in Alsace, close to the German and Swiss borders. She's the author of nine books on subjects ranging from Mexican food to the food and wines of Alsace and Switzerland. Her most recent, published in October, 2011, is Cheese: Slices of Swiss Culture. Her website is suestyle.com.

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Comments

Peggye
on: 12/4/12
I've never seen a fresh quince. Are they eatable raw?
Sue Style
on: 12/4/12
Hi Peggy - no, not edible raw, they're very hard and quite sour - but magic once cooked. Hope you can track some down and try them out! Sue
Sue Story
on: 12/5/12
Quince are also transformed into ruby-like jewels by poaching or slow roasting them for 4-5 hours on a very low heat.Here in NZ we have a tree growing. You can cook them whole provided they are free of the apple moth! Just rub off the furry skin and cook in a heavy syrup.They freeze too,
Paula Ungar
on: 12/5/12
The only place I have seen quince was in paris when I lived there it is not popular here Indy and have not seen it anywhere here. Sincer ely,Paula unaru
Lea Zeqiri
on: 12/5/12
My husband is from Kosovo and I've seen these there. He said they're unedible, oh how surprised they'll be when I cook them up.
Joann O'Melveny
on: 12/5/12
Quince may be eaten raw. Friends from Chile eat them sliced with salt and a really smelly cheese I cant remember the name of, not me , I had over 400 on my 50 year old tree this year, only about 2 dozen left. The are selling at our grocery stores 2 for $3,00. IU could be a quincenaire I give them away to anyone who knows how to use them, most make the jelly.
aikiwoman1
on: 12/5/12
Quince and apples make a wonderful sauce. The fragrance of ripening quinces is beautiful. Planted two last spring. Hope I will have some quinces so I can make the jelly recipe.
Sue Style
on: 12/5/12
Hi Sue, it's a perfect image: you take those hard, yellow, sour, daunting fruit, rub off the fluff, bathe them in a syrup (I like to add a little honey and lemon juice to the usual sugar syrup), bung them in the oven and come back later to find the ruby-like jewels you describe so eloquently...you can look forward to them coming round again a bit sooner than we here in the northern hemisphere, lucky you!
Sue Style
on: 12/5/12
Hi Paula - quinces in Paris, sounds irresistible! Love the French name too, coing. Here in Alsace they even distil them to make an eau de vie de coings, mmmmmmmm
Sue Style
on: 12/6/12
Hi Lea - so you spotted quince in Kosovo, lucky you! Did you also taste Rakia, a spirit made throughout the Balkans from mixed fruits, often including quince? Hope you convince your husband that they can be cooked and are delish
Sue Style
on: 12/6/12
Hey Joann - wow, eating quince raw, that takes some doing (and good teeth ;-) As you say, the trees are amazingly prolific and crop heavily - you should set up a farm stall, at $3 for 2 quince you could retire on the proceeds!
Sue Style
on: 12/6/12
Hey Aikiwoman1 - you planted TWO trees (gulp)?? Suggest that like Joann you plan a quince booth outside your house...But you're going to have fun and make a lot of neighbours happy. And the combo with apples is perfect - try using some of your jelly brushed on top of an apple tart, mmmm
@Hello_Kitty_
on: 1/9/13
Delicious on a grilled cheese sandwich made with Serrano-style ham and Manchego. Try it!
Jane
on: 5/5/13
Hi I was given some and have made the jelly - would love some ideas on how to use it!!
sue style
on: 5/5/13
`Hi Jane - try it on toast for a breakfast treat, or warm some up in a pan till liquid and brush ontop of an apple tart - nice with a sharp cheese too, like Hello Kitty says....enjoy!

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