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2 Comments It’s fragrant, it’s delicious and it’s pretty seasonal; quince jam! If you happen to have a quince tree in your garden, you know that it will produce ridiculous amounts of quince fruit in autumn. So what to do with all that fruit? You can make quince jelly, quince paste or – as I will show you here – quince jam. It’s absolutely one of my favorite jams with fall fruits.
Quince Jam
Quince is a hard yellow fruit that is not easy to find everywhere (at least here in the Netherlands, it can be a challenge!), but there are many people who have this fragrant fruit in their backyard. Don’t know anyone with a quince tree? Then you can usually find them in Turkish or Moroccan shops and sometimes in the better sorted grocery stores. It depends on where you live.
But if you do know someone with a quince tree I am sure they will be happy to donate some raw quince to you as the amount of fruit in quince season is too much for most people to proces.
I made this quince jelly a year ago, but I was waiting for the right time to post it. Because posting quince jam in March is a little crazy. The season usually starts around the end of September (depending on your location and the weather). You can find the yellow fruit from October to January. Also good to know is that the fresh quince will keep for a long time in a dark place.
Do more with quince
By the way, I brought these quinces back from France. I was visiting my friend Eva in December of last year and I brought home about four fresh quinces. Four is not much, you may think, but they were very large quince. I think those four made up around 4 pounds of quince. Three of them make more than two pounds of quince jam. And I also made these poached quince too.
Now you have small ones and big ones, so check exactly how much you need. The downside of quinces – I find – is that they are really mega hard. They don’t cut very well and getting the pit out is a bit of chore. But it is worth it. For the homemade jam you will need to chop the quince in small chunks preferably. The larger they are the longer the cooking time.
Use a food processor
You can grate the yellow quince with a grater, but that is a really tricky job. I personally use a food processor to make it easier. I just remove the seeds (and the stalks) and leave the skin on.
Soms quince will have a fluffy coating on the skin. If they do remove the ‘hair’ first before grating.
Then I grate them in the food processor and put them in a large pot. There is a lot of natural pectin in the skins of the quince so you won’t need jam sugar in this instance.
Quince tends to discolor quickly, and especially if you grate it, it is almost impossible to counteract. And it doesn’t matter for the jam, because it will discolor as it cooks. You can add a little lemon juice to try and prevent it happening, but I wouldn’t really bother in this case. I did add lemon juice but that was more for flavor than for the color.
The color will gradually change to pink or salmon pink. This takes a long time, so give the quince jam time. Depending on the size of your quince it will need about 50 to 60 minutes of cooking. You can help the cooking process along by using a potato masher to break the quince down a bit easier.
Additions
I only added a few bits of cardamom in this particular case but adding a cinnamon stick is also delicious. You can vary with the amount of sugar you use in this recipe. I used about half of the amount of sugar
Store in sterilized jars
If you want to keep your quince jam for a long time, you can store it in sterilized canning jars. Store the sealed jars somewhere cool and dark and you can enjoy it for the rest of the year! I love using quince jam in cakes, through yogurt, over ice cream, or instead of applesauce for dinner. The flavor is delicious and aromatic. How many jars of jam you’ll have will depend on the size of your jars!
Quince jam
Ingredients
- 1 kg quinces about 3-4 pieces
- 400 g sugar
- 50 ml lemon juice
- 3 pieces cardamom seeds
- 1 liter water
Titel
- Wash the quinces well and remove the fuzzy layer if necessary. Mine did not have a layer, so just wash them well. Quarter the quinces and remove the pits and seeds. Leave the skin on.
- Grate the quince with a grater or use a food processor. The latter is preferable because the quince is hard and grating it by hand is a chore.
- Once grated, place the quince in a large saucepan and add the lemon juice. Add a liter of water and bring to a boil.
- Let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Then add the sugar and cardamom seeds and let them dissolve well. Let the quince simmer gently for about 50 minutes to an hour. The color will slowly turn pink.
- Want to test the jam? Place a saucer in the freezer and let it get very cold. Put a teaspoon of your jam on the saucer and run your finger through it. If the line remains intact, your jam is ready.
Notes
Nutrition Information per portion:
Disclaimer:
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
Yay! Love quinces! Usually make a batch of cheese but jam seems a great idea too!
Ah yes it goes so well with cheese! Love quince!