You can try quince paste with chèvre and other mild, hard cheeses. It makes a great addition to cheese and crackers. You can substitute it for jam at breakfast as well. Quince is a traditional fruit that is highly scented and well-liked. Since it must be poached or boiled in order to be utilized in dishes, it is not a simple fruit to prepare.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 3 hrs 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 50 mins |
| Servings: | 32 |
| Yield: | 1 9×13-inch block |
Ingredients
- 4 ½ pounds ripe quinces
- 5 ½ cups white sugar
- water to cover
Instructions
- Wash, peel, and core quinces, reserving cores and peels. Coarsely chop flesh and transfer fruit to a large pan. Wrap cores and peels in cheesecloth, tie the bag with kitchen string and add it to the pan. (The peels contain most of fruit’s pectin, which contributes to the firmness of quince paste.)
- Pour in enough water to cover quinces and boil, with the pan partly covered, 30 to 40 minutes or until fruit is soft. Remove the bag of peels and pass quince flesh through a sieve or food mill. (For best results, 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.
- Transfer quince pulp to a saucepan and add sugar. Ideally, you should add the same amount of sugar, by weight, as fruit pulp. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking for about 1 1/2 hours, frequently stirring with a wooden spoon, until 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 quince mixture will stick to the spoon.
- Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish or line it with greased parchment paper. Transfer quince paste to the baking dish, spreading it about 1 1/2 inches thick. Smooth the top and allow it to cool.
- Dry paste for about 1 1/2 hours on your lowest oven setting, no more than 125 degrees F (52 degrees C). Allow quince paste to cool completely before slicing. In Europe, the traditional method of drying 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.
- Store quince paste in an airtight container in the refrigerator; the color will deepen with age.
- In Provence, quince paste is often served with cheeses from the Savoy region. In Spain and Portugal, quince paste (Membrillo) is served with manchego. Serve slices of quince paste with cheese or as a breakfast spread.
Reviews
I’ve tried making quince paste several times but this was the easiest and most delicious recipe by far! I had to dry it for longer than 1 1/2 hours though, I actually put my oven on a very low setting and left the tray in overnight. Perfect! Freezes well, and I sometimes have a slice or two with some goat cheese, for breakfast.
I followed the recipe, except I dried the paste in my dehydrator instead of the oven, so the finished product was a thinner slab.
I halved it — using 1 cup of sugar for 2 pounds of quince. Still too sweet
While preparing another quince recipe I discovered what a royal PITA it is to core and peel quince. So… when I looked at this recipe I decided to invert it. I halved the quinces, put them in a pot and barely covered them with water. Cooked for 40 mins or so until they were soft. Then I scooped them out with a slotted spoon and ran them through a food mill/ fruit and vege strainer aka the thing with the auger and screen that separates flesh from seeds and skins. I strained the liquid that remained and returned it to the pan and reheated it to dissolve the sugar. Remixed it all hot and was left with something the consistency of applesauce. The only thing I had to watch was that the volume of seeds can jam the auger so I had to clear it once. Huge time saver over peeling first, plus less waste.
This was so good! We ate it as a little sweet treat with meals. It was good alone or on toast. Great recipe!
This recipe was so easy! Someone at work brought some quinces in and didn’t know what they were. He stated his grandmother used them all time when he was kid. So I make this paste and served it crackers, brie, cheddar cheese and it was the talk on the whole floor. The only problem it call for a lot of sugar. Next time I want to try stevia or splenida. Thanks for sharing.
This was outstanding! I was so excited to see this recipe on here, because I’m crazy about quince. The first time I tried them, I thought, “Where has this fruit been all my life?!” I think I added too much water, though, during the quince cooking stage. Next time I’ll add a couple of cups to start with, and add more if needed. From 4½ pounds of whole quince, I got more than 5 lbs of quince puree! Like I said: too much water. It took a long time to cook down. I spread it into a pan and left it in a 100 degree F oven overnight (we have a “bread proof” cycle that was perfect for this). Wonderful! As good as the membrillo we had in Portugual. Perfect with crusty bread and slices of manchego cheese. It made a ton, so I’m giving away slabs as gifts to a select few!
I have just moved to a new house, and new country, and am blessed with a number of fruit/nut trees, one being a lovely good sized quince, have tried a number of recipes and this one is the simplest I have come across and easily competes with the rest. Thank You. as an added bonus most of the local comunity do not realise the many uses of this fruit for food and as a herbal remedy, always good to bring somthing new to the table, Thank you again