How To Make Quince Paste Recipes

QUINCE PASTE

Steps:

• Wash, peel, and core the quinces, reserving the cores and peels. Coarsely chop the flesh and transfer the fruit to a large pan. Wrap the cores and peels in cheesecloth, tie the bag with kitchen string, and add it to the pan. (The peels contain most of the fruit's pectin, which contributes to the firmness of the quince paste.)
• Pour in enough water to cover the quinces and boil, half-covered, 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, 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 the quince pulp to a saucepan and add the sugar (ideally, you should add the same amount of sugar, by weight, as the fruit pulp). Cook and stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, 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.
• Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish or line it with greased parchment paper. Transfer the quince paste to the baking dish, spreading it about 1 1/2-inch thick. Smooth the top and allow it to cool.
• Dry the paste on your lowest oven setting, no more than 125 degrees F (52 degrees C), for about 1 1/2 hours. Allow the quince paste to cool completely before slicing. (In Europe, 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.)
• Store quince paste in an airtight container in the refrigerator; the color will deepen with age.

QUINCE PASTE

Steps:

• Wash the quince and peel them, reserving the peels. Remove the cores and add them to the peels. Chop the fruit into 2-inch chunks. Tie the peels and cores up in some cheesecloth.
• Place the bundle in a large pot with the quince chinks. Add the chunks of quince and the bundle of peels and cores into a large pot. Add water so that the fruit is covered by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once the mixture starts to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 1 to 1 ½ hours until the quince chunks are soft and mushy.
• Remove the peels and cores from the quince and discard them.
• Line a colander with cheesecloth. Place the cooked quince in the colander and leave to strain for about 2 hours.
• Blend the strained quince in a food processor until you have a smooth puree. Weigh the quince puree and place it in a large pot. Add an equal amount of granulated sugar.
• Place the pot over low heat and cook for about 1 ½ hours until very thick. You will need to stir the mixture constantly at first to dissolve the sugar and occasionally after that.
• Switch on the oven to the lowest setting (125 °F). Lightly grease or line with parchment paper a 9 inch baking dish . Place the quince paste in the dish and spread it out evenly. Ensure the surface is smooth by leveling it with the back of a spoon. Aim for about a 1 ½ inch thick slab. Leave the paste to cool in the baking dish.
• Place the quince paste in the oven for 8 hours or overnight. The surface should be glossy and not sticky to the touch. Remove it from the oven and once cool, place it in the oven for 4 hours.
• Once the paste is dry, turn it out of the baking dish onto a plate or a parchment paper. Cut into servings (I usually make matchbox size rectangles) and wrap each individually. Store in the refrigerator for 3 months.
• Serve with a Spanish hard cheese like Manchego or with your favourite cheese.

QUINCE PASTE

Steps:

• Put the quinces, vanilla bean pod and seeds, and lemon zest in a 4-quart saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the quinces are tender when poked with a knife, about 40 minutes.
• Drain the quinces in a colander and discard the vanilla bean. Purée the fruit and lemon zest in a food processor. Measure the purée by volume, return it to the saucepan, and add an equal volume of sugar. (For example, if you have 2 cups of purée, add 2 cups of sugar.)
• Cook over medium-low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar has dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and reduce the heat to low. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the purée becomes a very thick paste, about 1-1/2 hours.
• Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 125°F. If your oven doesn't go this low, use the lowest temperature possible and expect a shorter cooking time. Line an 8×8-inch glass or ceramic baking dish with parchment and grease with the butter. Pour the quince paste (don't scrape the pot) into the dish and smooth the top with the wooden spoon. Bake until slightly dried and firm enough to slice, about 1 hour.
• Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Invert onto a cutting board and cut the quince paste into four 2-inch-wide strips. Wrap each strip in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

QUINCE PASTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 deg. and line a baking dish with foil.
• Scrub fuzz off the quinces and pat dry. Place in pan, cover with foil, and roast until tender, about 2 hours Transfer pan to rack. When quices are cool enough to handle, peel, quarter and core them. (A melon baller is very useful for coring, and I find that you can scoop the flesh with a spoon).
• Puree pulp in food processor with as little water as possible until smooth. Force through a large fine sieve into a liquid cup measure and measure amount of puree. Transfer to a 3-qt. heavy saucepan and add an equivalent amount of sugar.
• Cook quice puree over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until it is thickened and begins to pull away from side of pan, about 25 minutes. Pour into a lightly oiled 1 quart terrine, smoothing top with an offset spatula, and cool. (Alternatively, pour onto a lightly oiled cookie pan and spread out to about 1/4 inches thickness and let cool).
• Chill puree in terrine until set, about 4 hours. Puree in cookie pan will set without chilling. Remove from pan.
• Quince paste keeps, wrapped well in wax paper and then plastic wrap and chilled, for 3 months.
• Slice paste and serve with cheese and crackers.

QUINCE PASTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly oil a 1-quart terrine.
• Scrub quinces and pat dry. In a small roasting pan bake quinces, covered with foil, in middle of oven until tender, about 2 hours, and transfer pan to a rack. When quinces are cool enough to handle, with a sharp knife peel, quarter, and core them.
• In a food processor puree pulp with 1/4 cup water until smooth (if mixture is too thick, add remaining 1/4 cup water a little at a time, as needed). Force puree through a large fine sieve into a liquid cup measure and measure amount of puree. Transfer puree to a 3-quart heavy saucepan and add an equivalent amount of sugar.
• Cook quince puree over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until it is thickened and begins to pull away from side of pan, about 25 minutes. Pour puree into terrine, smoothing top with an offset spatula, and cool. Chill puree, loosely covered with plastic wrap, until set, about 4 hours.
• Run a thin knife around sides of terrine and invert quince paste onto a platter. (Quince paste keeps, wrapped well in wax paper and then plastic wrap and chilled, 3 months.)
• Slice paste and serve with cheese and crackers.

HOW TO MAKE QUINCE PASTE

Steps:

• Peel, core, and chop the quinces.
• Place chopped quince in a pot and cover with water. Add lemon juice.
• Cook over medium heat until quince is soft.
• Transfer to a food processor or use an immersion blender to puree the fruit. You should have about 2 cups of puree.
• Return puree to the cooking pot. Add honey and sugar and stir to combine.
• Simmer mixture over low to medium-low heat until mixture thickens, stirring often to prevent scorching.
• Continue cooking and stirring until the paste becomes the texture of a jelly candy. It will seem stretchy and the mixture will become a beautiful orange color.
• Pour into a greased pan and let cool. I used an 8 x 8 inch pan, but you could easily use a larger or smaller pan.
• Store in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks.