I made Quince Cheese yesterday. I psyched myself up for a session by the stove, convinced that I’d be there for hours and end up having to throw my Maslin pan out as I’d made boiled sweets. But no! As you can see it turned out exactly how it should (albeit I should’ve used a smaller but deeper container to set it in as it would’ve been thicker) and I’ll be eating the whole lot this evening with some Manchego. Quince are in season right now and I saw them in my local supermarket so they are readily available.
You don’t need many ingredients to make this but you do need some equipment. But if you like making jams and preserves etc then this equipment will be used again and isn’t too expensive.
Ingredients and Equipment
1kg of Quince (approx 8 Quince)
500g of granulated sugar (you may not need all of it)
Water
A maslin/preserving pan or any large heavy bottomed pan
A jam strainer. I used this one and I love it.
A fine mesh sieve
Wooden spoon
Straight sided plastic tub with airtight lid
Clingfilm
You can eat the Quince cheese when it has set or you can store it, as long as it is airtight, for up to 6 weeks so that the flavour intensifies. I am now officially addicted to making Quince Cheese so I will be doing both.
In fact, I’m rather addicted to jams, fruit cheeses and jelly’s in general right now and I’ve never had so much fun with Autumn cooking.
Handy printable recipe and instructions below.
Huge love, Cherry
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How To Make Quince Cheese (Membrillo)
Equipment
- A maslin/preserving pan or any large heavy bottomed pan
- A jam strainer.
- A fine mesh sieve
- Wooden Spoon
- Straight sided plastic tub with airtight lid
- Clingfilm
Ingredients
- 1 kg Quince (approx 8 Quince)
- 500 g Granulated Sugar (you may not use it all)
- Water
Instructions
- Wash and cut the Quince in to small pieces. No need to peel or remove the core.
- Put them in to the pan and add water so that the Quince is just covered and almost floating.
- Put on to a gentle simmer and allow the fruit to completely soften. When you can see it softening you can help it along by mashing it a little.
- When soft, place the pulp in a strainer and allow to strain for a few hours, squeezing the bag occasionally if you can see that the drips have halted.
- When you think that the bag is no longer giving you any more liquid then pass the pulp through a fine mesh sieve. This will ensure that you get the most out of the Quince.
- Weigh the juice/pulp you have retrieved and add it back in to the clean pan.
- Add the same weight/amount of granulated sugar to the amount of pulp and put on to a gentle heat.
- Stir until the sugar has dissolved and then continue to simmer gently, stirring often.
- The mixture will begin to darken and bubble, ensure you do not boil it, but simmer gently and allow to thicken. You’ll know when it is ready as you will be able to pull the wooden spoon through the mixture, along the bottom of the pan, and the mixture will part for about two seconds before folding back in on itself.
- Rub down the sides of your straight sided plastic tub with a small amount of sunflower oil and pour the mixture in to the tub.
- Place some clingfilm over the top of the tub and then put the lid on.
- Allow the tub to cool before putting in to the fridge to set proper.
Never knew that was so straight forward! I must have a go and impress the family.
Will be spending the weekend in the garden tidying and generally enjoying the weather. Probably have a BBQ too. Who would believe it, the 1st October and having a BBQ.
Have a lovely weekend one and all. x
Oh, by the way, also off to the ironmonger in the village. He has just got a supply of snow shovels in! I’m not going to get caught out this year! My husband thinks I’m nuts, we’ll see. 😉 x
Author
It wouldn’t surprise me if you needed it sooner than you think. Crazy weather. Cx
Love the beautiful pink and yellow two-tone and that jam strainer looks brilliant, I have a metal Lakeland one that takes me about 20 minutes to put together.
Delicioso, lástima que engorde tanto. Con el queso Manchego, está delicioso (yo soy de la Mancha). Otro queso español con el que combina muy bien es el Idiazabal.
Los dos son quesos de oveja.
UHMMMMMM….. Buenísimo.
that looks so beautiful. I’ve heard of it before, but have no idea how to eat it. Do you treat it like a cheese or is it more of a sweet treat?
I must admit to being less than happy with this heatwave. I miss proper autumn weather!
The girl is happy with it though, I’ve been meeting her in the school playground at the end of each day, armed with an ice lolly! 🙂
enjoy your weekend, have fun at the beach x
Lovely Cherry: yesterday when I read in facebook “quincy cheese” I didn’t got it, but today It’s all clear : Membrillo! Here in Argentina we eat it whith cheese too and we call it “Postre del vigilante” ( something like police dessert) o ” queso y dulce”. It is a classic.
Love
Verónica
Author
My goodness, hello to you in Argentina!! Thank you for joining me. Love, Cx
this sounds delicous! Quince is almost a mystery in my neck of the woods. The only thing I’ve heard it used for is for making a syrup to brush the top of a tart.
I hope that it is OK Cherry to share this on my Facebook page for my store, “C’est Cheese Please!” I carry Manchego cheese – a big favorite of my customers and I am sure that this would be something of interest to them. Have a great weekend!
Am I the only person who has never heard of fruit cheese? Where have I been all these years!? Looks fabulous Cherry – almost too pretty to eat.
Have a lovely time at the beach.
Bex.x
Hi Cherry! don’t tell us you can find Quince! I live in the north of England ( but originally from Argentina ) and so crave it!
What supermarket is that?
Love from Gaby x
Author
Hello Gaby
I saw them in Waitrose but they were a pound each, which I think is too much, so I would try a farmers market or a fruit and veg shop. Cx
This is very interesting. Several years ago a little student whose mother is from Mexico gave me a heavy package wrapped in foil for Christmas. She said it was “queso.” I thanked her and took the package home. When I opened it (expecting cheese) I was mystified. It was a great wriggling mass of something purplish. I had no idea what it was. I said to my hubby “she said it was queso but I’ve never seen queso this color.” We kept it in the frig for months not knowing what to do with it. I am chagrined to say we never did anything with it and eventually it went into the compost. Of course, I later learned exactly what it was. Now I would treasure such a gift. I was surprised to see that you also call it “queso,” Cherry.