Thread by @jeanetteking

THREAD. Dear reader, to save you time and trouble I have what I believe is the best recipe for quince jelly. The beauty of this recipe is that you end up with stewed quince as well. With thanks to @AnnabelLangbein and Robert Fleming #quince #quincejelly #stewedquince

2/ Before starting make sure you read all these instructions through so you have all the equipment you need and have everything prepared (esp. clean jars).

3/ Ingredients: 1 litre water, 2.5kg sugar, 3kg quinces (makes about 2l of jelly). Put water and sugar in large saucepan (mine is a 6l pot) and bring to boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Put clean jars in oven (but don’t turn oven on yet). Put a saucer in the freezer to cool.

4/ Meantime, wash outside of quinces to remove furry exterior. When the water and sugar has boiled add the whole quinces to the pot. Add more water to cover the quinces as much as possible (hard to do as the quinces will float). I add about another 500ml.

5/ Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 80 minutes. I put the lid of the pot on for 30 minutes to keep the quinces down a bit. Remove lid and carefully turn the top layer of quinces every now and then to allow them to cook through.

6/ Using a slotted spoon remove quinces and set aside to cool. Use the spoon to remove any stray pieces of quince that may have been left in the pot. At this point don’t forget to turn oven on to 140C/120C fan/gas 1 to warm the jars.

7/ Continue boiling juice until the syrup is ready to form a jelly. For me this is about another 25 minutes. Determining when the syrup is ready is the most tricky part. I use a confectionary thermometer and wait for the mixture to be at about 220 degrees for 10 minutes or so.

8/ I also check by putting a teaspoonful of syrup on to the chilled saucer. Wait for 30 seconds and then draw the teaspoon through to see how quickly the syrup flows back together. The teaspoon line in the jelly will hold for a few seconds before the sides creep back together.

9/ As soon as the syrup is ready turn off the heat. Use a pyrex jug to transfer the jelly from the pot to the jars. Seal with cellophane tops while mix is still warm. Move jars as little as possible until thoroughly cooled.

10/ Meanwhile, leave the whole quinces overnight or until thoroughly cooled. Remove the skins - some will come away easily, for others you might need to use a serrated knife.

11/ Slice pieces of quince off the core - the stewed quince can be used fresh or frozen for later. Use in a crumble or serve with custard, or used in a cake recipe.
“They dined on mince, and slices of quince, Which they ate with a runcible spoon” (Lear)

12/ I prefer this recipe to the traditional one where you cut up the quinces and boil them with sugar & water then strain in muslin overnight. That recipe takes two days & also you discard the pulp from the muslin bag. With this recipe you get both jelly and stewed quince. Enjoy!

@threadreaderapp Kia ora! Unroll please