Quince Jelly recipe (also works with Japonica quinces)
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Jam Jelly and Preserves | 162 comments
Our friend Bunty gave us a Portuguese quince tree three years ago. Besides being very decorative, with dark branches and lazy, floppy leaves it produces the large firm fruit that make the tastiest jelly. Mature quince jelly (over six months old) turns a gorgeous amber colour.
The first year our tree produced one small quince. It bore three last year and this year suddenly came into its own. The crop would be at least ten. The fruit are quite big so there would be enough to make more than jelly. Anne Mary and I poured over her old recipe books. We could make quince marmalade or try our hand at Membrillo. Greedily I watched the quinces mature and fatten. Imagine my horror when I noticed that the fruit was splitting and rotting on the tree. The cause, I discovered, was lack of water.
It’s easy to forget trees in a drought. Especially when they have done well in their first couple of years. Old established trees have much deeper roots and can find water more easily than younger, smaller trees. It would have been so easy to take a spur from the drip watering system in the kitchen garden to the quince tree. I just didn’t think.
Our poor pear harvest was probably due to lack of water. I am going to give both trees a dressing of rich compost from our composter and cosset them this winter. Hopefully the bees will boost the germination of the blossom next spring. Our bees arrived just as the blossom was going over this year.
I managed to harvest two half quinces and they are simmering on the stove as I write this. The aroma from the simmering quinces is richly fruity. We’ll be lucky to make a couple of small jars. One for Anne Mary and one for us, as an inspiration for next year.
Quince Jelly recipe (this works well with Japonica quinces too)
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs of quinces
- 1 lemon (just the juice, sieved)
- white granulated sugar
- water to cover
Method:
- Wash and roughly chop the quinces (no need to peel, decore or depip) and place in a heavy bottomed saucepan.
- Barely cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently with a lid on until soft. If the quinces are very firm this could take several hours. Check it every now and then and add more water if necessary.
- Pour the cooked fruit through sterilised muslin into a large clean bucket or bowl (how do I sterilise muslin/the jelly bag? See tips and tricks below). The muslin is often referred to as a “jelly bag”. We use tall buckets to catch the drips from the jelly bags. Rather than hang the bags (conventional method-between the legs of an upturned stool) I find it easier to line a large plastic sieve with the muslin. This clips neatly onto the top of a clean bucket. The sieve is covered with a clean tea cloth to protect against flies.
- Leave the jelly bag to drip overnight (or about 12 hours).
- Measure the juice the next day.
- Pour the juice into a deep heavy bottomed saucepan and add 1lb/454g of white granulated sugar for each 1pt/570ml of juice.
- Add the lemon juice.
- Heat the juice and sugar gently stirring from time to time, so as to make sure that that all the sugar has dissolved before bringing the liquid slowly to the boil.
- Continue to boil for about 10 minutes before testing for a set. This is called a rolling boil. Test every 3 to 5 minutes until setting point is reached. (What is testing for a set? See tips and tricks below). Tossing in a nugget of butter towards the end will reduce the frothing that can occur.
- When jelly has reached setting point pour into warm sterilised jars using a funnel and ladle. (How do I sterilise jars? See tips and tricks below).
- Cover immediately with plastic lined screw top lids or waxed disks and cellophane tops secured with a rubber band. If you don’t think that the jelly has set properly, you can reboil it the next day. The boiling reduces the water in the jelly. I have done this in the past. Ideally you should try for the right set the first time.
- Label when cold and store in a cool, dark place. Away from damp.
Tips and tricks:
- What is a jelly bag?
A jelly bag is traditionally a piece of muslin but it can be cheesecloth, an old thin tea cloth or even a pillowcase. The piece needs to be about 18″ square. When your fruit is cooked and ready to be put in the jelly bag, lay your cloth over a large bowl. Pour the fruit into the centre of the cloth and tie the four corners together so that they can be slung on a stick to drip over the bowl. Traditionally a stool is turned upside down, the stick is rested on the wood between the legs and the jelly bag hangs over the bowl. We experimented and now line a sieve with muslin, place it over a bucket and cover the lot with clean tea cloths (against the flies). - How do I sterilise muslin/the jelly bag?
Iron the clean jelly bag with a hot iron. This method will also sterilise tea cloths. - Jelly “set” or “setting point”?
Getting the right set can be tricky. I have tried using a jam thermometer but find it easier to use the following method.
Before you start to make the jelly, put a couple of plates in the fridge so that the warm jam can be drizzled onto a cold plate (when we make jam we often forget to return the plate to the fridge between tests, using two plates means that you have a spare cold plate). When testing for a set drizzle some jelly into the cold plateand return the plate to the fridge to cool for approx two minutes. It has set when you run your finger through it and leave a crinkly track mark. If after two minutes the cooled jam is too liquid, continue to boil the jelly, testing it every few minutes until you have the right set. The jelly is far more delicious if it is slightly runny. It does get firmer after a few months. - How do I sterilise the jars and lids?
We collect jars all year round for our jelly, chutney and jam making sessions. I try to soak off labels and store the clean jars and metal plastic coated screw-top lids in an accessible place. The sterilising method that we use is simple. Just before making the jam, I quickly wash and rinse the jars and place them upside down in a cold oven. Set the temperature to 160c/140c for fan assisted. When the oven has reached the right temperature I turn off the heat. The jars will stay warm for quite a while. I only use plastic lined lids for preserves as the all-metal lids can go rusty. I boil these for five minutes in water to sterilise them. If I use Le Parfait jars, I do the same with the rubber rings.
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I have made quince jelly but added just a few lavender flowers, and I mean just a few or it overpowers the quince. The jelly goes really well with lamb.
I’ve been given some quinces and will be making jelly today. When I was a child, we lived with my grandmother who was a wonderful jam maker; her blackberry jam was to die for!
Next door had a quince tree which over-hung Grandma’s yard and she made quince jelly by the hundredweight. She also stewed the fruit for sweets-absolutely delicious with thick cream and/or icecream.
Quinces used to be very popular and most people had a tree in their backyard (when a house block was 1/4 acre) along with grapes, citrus, stone fruit almonds, a big vegie garden and the ubiquitous Hills hoist. These days, you’d be lucky to fit a pot plant in back yards.
Hello Jane
Yes quince sweets (Membrillo) are to die for – great with cheese too 🙂
It was the same in the UK. Most subsidised housing (rented from the government) came with at least a quarter of an acre of land. As the people that rented these properties needed to raise chickens and grow their own veg to survive.
These used to be called council houses in the UK. Now they are called Housing Trust. But the new housing trust houses don’t have much land at all. The gardens and allotments were ploughed up to build more housing trust houses.
Even deluxe houses have handkerchief gardens in the UK. With all the year round fresh vegetables in all our supermarkets we have become spoilt.
However the recession has changed all this. In the UK there is now a big movement (from most bands in the poulation) for access to allotments.
When I bought the cottage (15 years ago) everyone that I knew thought that I was mad as the land is a third of an acre. For the first eight years I only grew flowers but for the last eight I have been gradually experimenting with growing fruit and vegetables. D and I are so lucky we have land to grow stuff to eat.
My friends with tiny gardens are now asking how to grow stuff in pots and wondering if we have any spare plants! It’s great that suddenly people are wanting to grow their own in the UK. Some will continue after this financial glitch as it’s fun and quite easy to grow a lot of your own veg.
I just have one question. What is a Hill’s Hoist? I have an image in my mind that conjures every gardener is expecting bad back and investing in the hoist to get into bed at night 🙂
Quinces have just appeared in some of the ethnic shops here in West Ealing!!
Membrillo this morning and quince jelly in preparation right now!!!!
GREAT for unusual Christmas presents, but don’t try telling your kids its better than an X-Box!!
Regarding the cyanogenic compounds in pips, don’t worry! Plenty of edible stuff contains this. For example, cassava, which makes lovely chips or the evil tapioca, contains loads of cyanide. The rats that eat it raw in the fields die from it (ha!), but it’s destroyed by heat so as long as it’s cooked properly you’ll be fine. Although I cite this as a valid reason to avoid tapioca (just in case…).
Thanks for the recipes! I’m all inspired now, but I can’t find any quinces 🙁
Yesterday, I made some quince jelly. I’d bought the plants in the ‘nearly dead’ section of my local garden cenre a few years ago.The plants all did well and this year there were hundreds of fruits. The plants had no labels so I wasn’t sure what they were and for the last few years just let the fruits rot! This year I decided they were quinces, bought a jelly bag from Lakeland and have made the most delicious jelly.
I am of English ancestry, and live in Northern California, USA. I am having a wonderful time on this site, which I found in my query for Quince Jelly. Aside from getting the anmswers I needed to make jelly, I have enjoyed all the conversations from so many nice folks! I feel like I am eavesdropping on you! Thank you so much!
I have a shrub which we call flowering quince. Could this be the same as your Japonica Quince?
Thanks for your very useful instructions. I am busy killing time waiting for my baby to decide he wants to be born and thought I’d try using the Japonicas from my garden for the first time ever. I don’t have a very large bush so only got just under a pint of juice. The bit of jelly I put in the fridge to test the set tasted yummy so I am looking forward to enjoying my 1 jarful and hoping for a larger crop next year!
I have just purchased a tefal jam maker and made my first ever jam/jelly – quince jelly. I used my neighbours quinces – her bush has given me 17/18lbs unbelievable! It had a slight scum to it and as I didn’t have a strainer I added a small amount of butter as suggested, so time will tell. I also noticed a lot of tiny bubbles – I potted up the jelly immediately and it was quite frothy – is it better to wait a few minutes before potting up?
The jam maker steams the fruit and so I was left with a lot of lovely pulp; I looked at it thinking I should be able to do something with it but didn’t know what so I then threw it on the compost heap. Within the hour I had then discovered a use for it – membrillo – so that will be tried with the next batch! I so enjoyed my first foray into home preserving and can’t wait to do more – thank you so much for such a lovely website to help us all along the way.
Now I’m just trying to get more jars of all sizes – easier said than done as we have a very efficient recycling service around here and no-one keeps them anymore, but I shall perservere with trying to convert friends and neighbours etc. Thanks again for all the help and advice.
my japonica quinces are really hard , do I use them now or wait a bit??
I really love the site!
thank you,
x
Hi there. I have just made the QJ from this recipe which I stumbled on after getting loads of fruit from my Japanese Quince tree (small climber actually!) It looks fantastic & the smell while boiling mmm…… can’t wait to try it, but when? Do I have to leave it for a while? Thanks for a great site.