Quince paste is a sweet-tart fragrant preserve made with ripe quinces, sugar, and water. It’s a firm, sticky paste — perfect for slicing into thin layers to serve with cheese. In Spain, it’s known as membrillo and served with Manchego.
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
Directions
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, until fruit is soft, about 30 to 40 minutes. 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 ½ 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, frequently stirring with a wooden spoon, until paste becomes very thick and has a deep orange color, about 1 ½ hours. 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 ½ inches thick. Smooth the top and allow it to cool.
Dry paste for about 1 ½ 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.