Quince Jam

Elena Butuc

I started this quince jam with a clear image in my head of the way I wanted it to be - elegant, with a fine aroma, a jelly or a jam with bits of candied quince in it. I didn't have a clear recipe, though I hoped my experience would help me. I wrote down everything I did while cooking this recipe and it was mostly intuitively. It was brilliant, just the way I wanted and even more so. Since then, it has taken the place of honor in our pantry every year and it will continue to do so. On the very first day, we ate together a whole jar of quince jam with some quick waffles!

What I really like is that this quince jam is not runny, it holds its jelly shape and it doesn't need boiling for too long. If it boils to a more intense red color, you can get a thick jam, perfect for croissants, crescent rolls etc. Don't feel sorry for the cores and the leftovers from the quince, I'm going to show you how I used them to make a wonderful jelly!

Optionally, at the end, in the last 5 minutes of cooking and before pouring the jam into jars, you can enhance the flavour by adding some pieces of walnuts (slightly toasted) and lemon slices. I wanted it simple for now.

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Ingredients

Metric US

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Quince

2 kg

after coring the quince, I had 1300 g of pulp left

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Sugar

1 kg

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Water

500 ml

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Lemon

1 piece

Step by step

Day 1.

Wash well, then core the quince.

If they have worms, cut them and keep the clean parts.

Be very careful with the woody part that's close to the core. You don't want it on the good slices of quince - in the jam, you'll have small hard particles, not too comfortable to eat :)

That's how, out of 2 kg of whole quince, I managed to get 1300 g of clean slices and 700 g of leftovers.

I placed the cores and everything else I removed from the quince into a pan and I am going to make a delicious quince jelly. The recipe is coming up within a few days.

Next, cut the quince pulp into thin, small slices. Along the way, sprinkle with lemon juice and stir, so that it won't oxidize.

This is my quince ready to become jam.

In a large (5 liters) stainless steel heavy bottomed pan, combine 1 kg of sugar and 500 ml of water.

Stir and place over heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and the syrup just starts to boil - you don't have to boil it much!

Now toss the quince slices in the syrup and mix well.

When it comes to the boil, turn down the heat and cook for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, take the pan off the heat and leave it on the table without a lid for 12-24 hours. You can cover it with gauze or a thin towel, but not a lid!

Day 2.

Notice on the second day that the jam seems to drop a little and the quince pieces start to candy.

Place the pan over heat again. When it comes to the boil, simmer for 5 minutes. Then place on the table again for 12-24 hours.

Day 3.

And we are on day 3. The quince seem even more candied, the future jam has a beautiful yellow color.

Place over heat. When it comes to a boil, turn the heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Try not to mix too often so that the quince slices won't become porridge.

Notice that, during the cooking, the jam becomes pinker. Do the test with the drop on the plate.

For the quince, the rule is a bit different. It contains a lot of pectin and you don't need to boil the juice for too long. It will turn into jelly anyway, after the jam cools down.

I did the drop test throughout the boiling process. In the lower right you can see how the jelly is yellow and along the way it becomes more and more pink (lower left). I stopped the boiling when it was light pink and the drop didn't spread too much.

The cooking time can vary, depending on the amount of boiled jam and also the size of the pot - the bigger it is, the faster the jam will be ready.