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Quince Cheese

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Quince Cheese

  • Vegetarian
Preparation time:
30 minutes
Cooking time:
3½ hours, plus cooling
Total time:
4 hours, plus cooling 60 minutes 60 minutes 60 minutes 60 minutes
Makes:
 Makes about 850ml

Ingredients

  • 1.5kg quince
  • Juice of 2 lemons
  • About 1kg granulated sugar
  • ½ tbsp vegetable oil

Method

  1. Wash the quince thoroughly and, if necessary, rub off any down from their skins. Chop them, skin, core and all, into medium-sized chunks and put in a large, non-corrodible saucepan. Add the lemon juice and enough cold water to just cover them - about 1.5 litres. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 3 hours or until very soft and a dusky, rosy colour. If necessary, add more water while cooking to ensure the quince cook evenly and don't catch on the bottom of the pan.
  2. Once very soft, push the mixture through a fine nylon sieve with a ladle. This takes time but rids the quince of any remaining debris. Measure the resulting purée and allow 450g granulated sugar for every 500ml puréed quince.
  3. Prepare 2 suitable 500ml containers. You can use plastic food boxes: wash in a dishwasher and leave to dry. Alternatively, use Kilner jars: wash in hot, soapy water and leave to dry in a cool oven. Whatever you choose, make sure it will be easy to cut or turn out the quince cheese.
  4. Put the quince purée and sugar in a large non-corrodible saucepan over a low heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then bring up to the boil and cook, stirring all the time, until the mix is so thick that the spoon leaves a clean line when drawn across the bottom of the pan. This will take about 30 minutes. As the purée thickens it will spit violently, so protect your arms.
  5. Lightly oil the sterilised containers and fill them with the piping-hot quince cheese. Seal once cold. Store for up to a year. This is delicious with cheeses and air-dried hams but can also be cut into squares, dusted with sugar and served as a sweetmeat.

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spink brian

spink brian 02 November 2008 08:27

I'm taking a break from stirring 5l of quince puree; from previous experience, you can get away with less sugar if you prefer a less overpoweringly sweet cheese. I use abuot half the suggested amount as my wife is diabetic. The keeping qualities are of course not so good but it is so popular that it doesn't stay long in the store cupboard anyway! You don't have to use 'real' quinces; the fruit of the humble garden Japonica gives an identical result. A bit fussy perhaps, but I cut them in half crosswise and scrapeout the seeds. Watch out for the stuff burning and sticking; constant attention needed toward the end of cooking time.

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1 stars out of 5

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This recipe was first published on Waitrose.com in October 2004