Method

• Roughly chop quince and put into a large heavy based pot with 600ml water, add the lemon juice & mix through
• Bring to the boil and then simmer for 30 minutes
• When the fruit is soft, crush it with a potato masher or fork until it is a soft, syrup pulp, and let it cool
• Sieve the pulp in batches over a large clean bowl
• Pressing the pulp hard against the sieve with a wooden spoon
• This is hard work but worth the effort, extract as much purée as possible
• Measure the purée for every 450 ml of purée using 450grams of sugar
• Put the purée and sugar back into the pot and stir over low heat to dissolve the sugar
• Bring to the boil, then heat down and simmer gently for 45-60 minutes
• Watch that it doesn’t burn
• The purée will reduce and become orange in colour, glossy and very thick
• It is ready when it makes a “plopping” sound and sticks to the wooden spoon
• You will need 6 sterilized ramekins, light grease them
• Spoon in the paste to the top and flatten out
• Seal with wax paper and I use a large chopping board to sit on the top
• Let them cool for a few hours and then remove from the ramekins and wrap in wax paper
• Leave them to mature for 4-6 weeks in a cool dark place
• Serve on a cheese board with Whitestone & Evansdale Cheeses!