CookEat Recipe
Soft Quince Preserve
A pourable, spreadable quince preserve made with the skins and cooking liquid.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 1 kg quinces, weighed after coring but with the skins on; 1 kg caster sugar; Water just to cover the fruit, about 1.2 litres initially.
Step 2
Wash the quinces, cut into wedges and remove the hard cores and seeds, leaving the skins on. Weigh the prepared raw fruit and set aside exactly the same weight of sugar; the listed batch uses 1 kg of each.
Step 3
Put the fruit in a nonreactive saucepan and add just enough water to cover. Simmer for about 30–45 minutes, until thoroughly soft. Drain over a bowl, keeping all the cooking water. Pass the fruit through a food mill or sieve to remove the remaining tough skin and fibres.
Step 4
Return the sieved pulp and its reserved cooking water to the saucepan. Bring to a boil before adding the measured sugar. Stir until dissolved, then simmer uncovered, stirring frequently, for about 20–40 minutes or until a small sample on a plate moves slowly but remains soft enough to spread. The amount of cooking water affects the time; do not reduce this version to the firm texture of a quince paste.
Step 5
Transfer to clean small heatproof containers, cool promptly and refrigerate within 2 hours. Keep at 4°C or colder and use within 3 days, or freeze in suitable small containers with expansion space. Thaw in the refrigerator. These historical fruit-and-sugar proportions have not been validated for shelf-stable canning; do not store this preparation at room temperature. Discard the entire container if mould, fermentation or other spoilage appears.
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