Spiced Quince Jam

"This jam is a delicious accompaniment to cheese, and it makes a wonderful glaze for pork, game or chicken. It's also great just on toast with butter! I suppose technically it's a jelly, because it doesn't have pieces of quince in it, but it's not clear like a jelly, so I call it jam ;) Quinces contain a lot of natural pectin, so you don't need to add any. However, you will need to keep checking the set while you cook it - use the cold plate test to do this (instructions below in the recipe). Check the set after the initial 20 minutes of cooking, and then every 5 minutes after that. Do not give up - this jam has to cook for a while. It may take up to 40 minutes for the jam to reach the "set" point, depending on the level of heat you are using. Just keep cooking it down. The jam will turn a reddish-brown color as it cooks."
 
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photo by xtine photo by xtine
photo by xtine
Ready In:
4hrs
Ingredients:
12
Yields:
4-5 half pints
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ingredients

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directions

  • To make the quince juice, wash & wipe off fuzz from quinces, cut off stem & anything remaining at blossom end and cut into eighths. Do not discard the cores or the seeds as they contain a lot of natural pectin. Place in a large pan and cover with water so the pieces float. Bring to a boil and stir. Reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and simmer for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally (2 hours will do the trick, but I like to let it simmer for 3, so the fruit is very soft).
  • Using a fine sieve, strain the "juice" from the pulp. The "juice" can vary from an actual juice to a thin puree - it depends on if the fruit breaks down or not. Press on the fruit with the back of a large spoon to extract all the juice.If some of the pulp squeezes through the sieve and into the juice that's fine. If you get more than the 6 cups needed for this recipe you can freeze it to use later.
  • Place two or three small saucers in the freezer. You will use these later to check the set of the jam.
  • In a preserving pan, combine the 6 cups quince juice, juice and zest of the orange and the lemon, spices, & sugar. If you don't have a preserving pan, use the widest pan you have. The wider the pan, the more quickly moisture will evaporate from the mixture, and this is what you want when making jelly or jam.
  • Bring to a boil and continue cooking on medium-high heat for about 20 minutes, stirring gently. Check the set - it may take up to 40 minutes of simmering over medium high heat for the jelly/jam to reach the set stage - use the cold plate test to check set: take the pot of jam off the heat (if you don't remove the jam from the heat while you check the set, it could over-cook and become rubbery or hard, if the jam is indeed already set) place a drop of the jam mixture on one of the saucers you've kept in the freezer, & place the plate back in the freezer for 1 minute. After 1 minute, take the saucer out of the freezer and nudge the drop of jam with your finger. If it "wrinkles" when you nudge it with your finger it is done. If the jam is not set, continue cooking over medium-high heat, checking the set again every 5 minutes.
  • Once the set point is reached, put the jam into jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace; place flat lids and rings on and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

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Reviews

  1. This was my first experience at making jam last year. It was so easy to follow, for years i had no idea as to what to do with the quince that fell off the trees then I heard about quince jelly and figured I would give it a try. after filling my jars I tasted the pot and was a little unsure because the spices seemed weak. But when I opened a jar a few days later it was amazing all the flavours came together! My first batch of this season is on the stove as I type, I will try a few other recipes but I had to do this one first because of all the requests from people who had it last year!
     
  2. IT SET...IT SET...IT SET!!! The number of spices seemed so much, but it is an excellent balance. Reminds a little of the flavour of a mulled wine. Delicious! Will be making again. I would call this a jelly. Mine came out very dark but clear except for the peel and the shading caused by the spices. 10/10.
     
  3. I am so glad to be the first to rate this delicious recipe! I had tried to make quince jelly last week, and it was such a dismal failure (probably on my part), because I had no clue as to how to do it, and had to rely on complicated and confusing instructions that I got elsewhere on the internet. Well, the jelly didn't set and I was at a loss as to what to do with it. So when I saw this recipe on Zaar, I figured I had nothing to lose. I just had a small amount of quince left, just enough to make up 1/2 pint of jam. Well, your instructions were simple and easy to follow, and the result was just wonderful! I tasted what was left in the pot and it was out of this world! The combination of spices was perfect. I am so glad that I found your recipe, and this is what I will be making next fall, when my crop is ready. Too bad I didn't see it first, before I attempted to make the jelly! The nice thing in making this jam, was that I just had to walk outside my kitchen door and pick an orange and a lemon from the trees that are growing in my yard. Since I grow them organically, I didn't have to worry about sprays, etc. Same with my quince. Thank you so much, xtine, for a wonderful, tasty and easy jam recipe, that I will be making every year, for myself and also to give away as gifts.
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p>I'm originally from Atlanta, GA, but I now live in Brooklyn, NY with my husband, cat, and dog. I'm a film and video editor, but cooking is my main hobby - if you can call something you do multiple times a day a hobby. <br />I enjoy all types of food, from molecular gastronomy to 70's suburban Mom type stuff. While I like to make recipes from cookbooks by true chefs, I don't turn my nose up at Campbell's Cream of Mushroom - I'm not a food snob. <br /> I love foods from all nations/cultures, and I am fortunate enough to live in NYC so I can go to restaurants which serve food from pretty much anywhere on the globe. Because of this most of my recipes tend to be in the Western European/American food tradition - I find it easier to pay the experts for more complicated delicacies such as Dosai, Pho &amp; Injera. I really enjoy having so many great food resources available to me here in NYC. One of my favorite stores is Kalustyan's http://www.kalustyans.com/ <br />they have every spice, bean, &amp; grain in the world. If there's something you can't find, look on their website. I bet they'll have it and they can ship it to you! <br />Many of my recipes are Southern, because that's the food I grew up on. I hope the recipes I have posted here will be useful to folks out in the 'zaar universe! <br /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/Adopted1smp.jpg border=0 alt=Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/smPACp.jpg border=0 alt=Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/PACfall08partic.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/IWasAdoptedfall08.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /> <br /><img src=http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e110/flower753/Food/my3chefsnov2008.jpg alt= /></p>
 
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