How to Use Quinces

Saturday, December 03, 2011

If you’ve eaten at Amada, Tinto, or other tapas-oriented restaurants, the odds are good that you’ve had dulce de membrillo, the quince-based paste that’s served with cheese in Spain and pretty much all over Latin America.  Sadly, it can be both hard to find in the U.S. and ridiculously overpriced when you do, which is why I’ve been making my own any time I can find quinces in the market. Fortunately for me, Beechwood Orchards consistently brings them to the local markets late in the fall, letting me indulge my love of this fruit by buying eyebrow-raising quantities at each visit. They can also be found, albeit at higher prices, in some local groceries this time of year as well.

Quinces are so naturally high in pectin that they’re a snap for even the novice preserves-maker to handle.  All you have to do is cook them until they’re soft, puree them and add an almost equal amount of sugar, and cook them down until they turn from gold to salmon pink.  The resulting mixture sets itself into a nice firm jam at this point, or you can pour it into a shallow pan and dehydrate it in a very low oven until it firms up into a nice sliceable block that keeps forever in the fridge. 

The nice thing about this recipe is that it can be scaled up or down for as many quinces as you care to buy, and just one lazy Saturday afternoon of effort will yield you enough squares of dulce de membrillo or jars of jam for all your holiday party cheese plates, with plenty of extras for seasonal hostess gifts.

Dulce de Membrillo (Quince Paste)
Makes one 1 ½ - 2 lb block, or about eight 1-cup jars of jam

10 quinces (around 5 pounds)
Approximately 4 cups granulated sugar
Half of a large vanilla bean, split
1 lemon

Wash, peel and core the quinces, chopping roughly. Remove the peel of half the lemon in long strips with a peeler, and place with the quinces and vanilla bean in a large pot, pouring over enough water to just cover the fruit. Bring to a boil, then cover the pot and lower the heat to a simmer, cooking until the fruit is tender. 

Drain the quinces, removing the vanilla bean but leaving in the lemon strips.  Puree the fruit with a food processor, food mill or immersion blender until smooth. Measure the puree in a liquid measuring cup and add 1 cup sugar for every 1 ¼ cups of fruit. Transfer the mixture into a large, heavy-bottomed pan and heat on low, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then stir in the juice of the lemon.  Increase the heat just enough to barely sustain a simmer and cook until very thick and a dark pink color, stirring frequently.  If you are getting a lot of splatter, partially cover the pan but stir even more often to prevent burning.

If putting up as jam, spoon the thickened mixture into clean, sterilized jars and seal using the boiling water method.  To set as dulce de membrillo, pour the mixture into a shallow, buttered 8 x 8 pan and bake in an oven at the lowest possible setting for 1-2 hours, or as long as it takes to solidify into a firm block, flipping it over as soon as the top is set in order to dehydrate it evenly.  Covered tightly, the dulce can be kept nearly indefinitely in the refrigerator.