Tuesday 8 November 2011

Membrillo

I have made this for the first time, this year; my quince tree gave enough fruit for jelly, quince brandy and this, so I am very pleased with my crop,  which has been processed to last through the winter for me.
Membrillo is a Spanish quince paste, traditionally served with Manchego cheese, or you can coat it in sugar and eat as sweets, which is what I have done. The recipe is very easy, and you can used up dmaged fruits by cutting out any bad bits and using the good ones.
Peel core and cut up your quinces, place in a pan with ther ind of one lemon, slices and cover with water; simmer until fruit is soft; drain, and puree the fruit, including the lemon peel. Add lemon juice (I use about 2 tbsp for 2lbs fruit) and stir well.

Weight the puree, then tip back into the rinsed pan, add the same weight of sugar. Put on a  lowish heat to dissolve, then elave to simmer gently until very thick, and a dark pinky orange colour. Very lightly butter a baking tin, pour in the puree and spread level. Leave to dry 24 hours; I left mine overnight, then placed it in a very low oven for a couple of hours - you want a stiffish jelly-like consistency. You can slice and store at this point, or cut into pieces and coat with sugar as I did. Mine is now on the foil over a cooling rack, and I will leave it on top of the rayburn to dry out a wee bit more, before storing it in an airtight tin. I believe it will store for quite a while, but not sure how long it will last in this house lol

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