Quick quince paste...

I was at my sister's recently and her friend had made quince paste. With a glut of the fruit on her tree, she offered me some. I've never really even held a quince before, let alone cooked with them...

 

I do love Maggie Beer's quince paste, served with a sharp cheddar and crackers! This sells for about $6/tub.

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Anyway, a bag of quinces and a recipe showed up on my doorstep on Sunday so yesterday, I thought I'd better make some quince paste. Never waste produce gifted to you! Reading the recipe, it wanted me to cook the quinces for several hours then dry in a low oven for 10 hours! Too hard!

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I googled 'quick quince paste' and Julie Goodwin's blog popped up. I had a quick read and she had cooked her QP in 5 hours in her slow cooker. That sounded better. Off I went...

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http://www.juliegoodwin.com.au/blog/?p=1423

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I started by washing, removing a few blemishes (I think some were wind fall fruit), cored and cut into eighths...then I gently boiled the fruit until tender. Skin is left on as that is where the pectin is.

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Once tender, I drained off the water and pureed the hot fruit in my food processor...

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Now the naughty bit - I had exactly 5 cups of puree (same as Julie G) so you add 5 cups of sugar to the puree!!!!

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Added it to my slow cooker and turned it on to high... (6.08pm)

(7.32pm) Starting the thicken. I stirred it every half hour...

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(8.32pm) Colour is starting to change...bubbling around the edge...

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(9.37pm) more colour change - stirring every 15 minutes now...

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(10.30pm) colour intensifying...bubble, bubble, bubble...

(10.49pm) I decided to turn it off at this stage. It was starting to almost burn between stirrings and it was setting on a spoon so I reckon it was done. I think my slow cooker is a hot one!

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(Photo of Julie Goodwin's quince paste)

Colour is very similar...

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I put some in a little ramekin which I will use up first...

The rest, I spooned into these little plastic tubs I had - perfect!

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Julie suggested leaving it out all night to cool...

...so I did just that. I covered it with a food cover and finally went to bed. Way past my bedtime!

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I can't wait to try it with some cheese later today.

Have you ever cooked with quinces before?

Cheers - Joolz xx

 

Posted by Joolz with Blogsy