The Catalan TableQuince Paste
Quince paste made with boiled quince, sugar and lemon juice, with optional ground cinnamon. The cooking point is reached when the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan.
Yield: 1 large plum-cake mould
Ingredients
Measurement units
Base
- 9-11 unitsmedium-large quinces
- 1500 gwhite sugar
- to taste ground cinnamon
- 22 mllemon juice
- to taste a little salt
Nutritional Information
Per 100 g
Calories
258 kcal
Protein
0.2 g
Fat
0.2 g
Carbohydrates
67 g
Calculated from reviewed ingredient weights and pinned USDA FoodData Central records.
Step-by-step Guide
Preparing and boiling the quinces
- Place a pot on the heat with enough water to cover the quinces and, when it comes to a boil, add a little salt.
- Wash the quinces under running water to remove their fuzz.
- When the water boils, reduce the heat to medium-low and add the whole, unpeeled quinces.
- Boil them for about 60 minutes, depending on their size and ripeness, until tender.
- Check with a skewer that the quinces are cooked.
- Make sure they are very soft, so that you can mash the flesh.
- Once boiled, discard the water and let the quinces cool.
- Peel them, remove the cores, and cut them into cubes.
- If possible, pass the cubes through a sieve.
- If you cannot pass them through a sieve, mash the cubes with a fork.
- Weigh the fruit in a bowl and subtract the weight of the bowl.
- Depending on the weight of the quince, add between 80% and 100% of its weight in sugar.
- Add the sugar to the bowl, mix well, and leave to macerate for about 2 hours.
Cooking the quince paste
- Protect the stovetop with aluminium foil.
- Also protect any gaps and work surfaces next to the stovetop with aluminium foil, securing it well so that it cannot move.
- Transfer the mixture to a shallow pan or a large frying pan.
- Cook it over very low heat for 45 minutes, stirring continuously so that it does not stick.
- If cooking with gas, use the large burner at the lowest possible setting and stir throughout so that the heat is distributed gently.
- During cooking, blend it with an immersion blender 3 or 4 times so that the mixture is as smooth as possible.
- Near the end of cooking, add the lemon juice and a little ground cinnamon.
- Remove the quince paste from the heat and let it cool slightly while stirring it.
- Take care not to overcook it so that the sugar does not caramelise.
- The quince paste will be cooked when the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan.
Moulding, compacting, and storing
- Line the mould with two strips of baking paper, one lengthwise and the other crosswise.
- Fill the mould and compact the quince paste with a spatula.
- Cover the quince paste with a sheet of baking paper.
- If possible, place a weight on top to compact it a little more.
- If you have used the large mould, once the quince paste is covered, place the small mould on top with a carton inside.
- If you have used both moulds, also place the small mould on top of the large one; then cover the quince paste in the small mould and, when it is lukewarm, place oven mitts over the paper and a carton on top.
- The next day, transfer the quince paste to the refrigerator for one or two days.
- Once it has set well, cut it into pieces and vacuum-pack it.
Recommendations & Tricks
- Quince paste is usually made with the same weight of sugar as cleaned fruit, once boiled and with the hard core removed.
- This version uses 100% of the sugar weight because it makes fairly large bars and they keep for a long time.
- Quince has a high level of pectin, so there is no need to add any.
- The text relates the pH of quince to the addition of citric acid and to the equivalent amount of lemon juice.
- It is advisable to protect the stovetop with aluminium foil.
- Also protect any gaps and work surfaces next to the stovetop.
- Do not let the sugar caramelise.
Original recipe
View or download the original PDF document.