Quince and Rosewater Jelly

Ingredients:

           

The peels, cores and cooking water from the Quince Paste making

Sugar

Rose Water (optional)

Method:

·        Take the muslin bag of peels and cores in what’s left over of the original cooking water.

·        Boil for a good while, at least an hour.

·        Remove and reserve the muslin bag and strain the water into a new pot.

·        Wring out the muslin bag until you’ve extracted the pectin – a slippery, viscous liquid. Add this to the strained cooking water – it’s what will enable your jelly to thicken.

·        Measure the liquid.

·        Bring to a boil, and add sugar. For each litre of liquid, add half a kilo of sugar. Boil, stirring constantly, for about an hour (oven mitts!). About half an hour in, add 1 tbls of Rosewater. When the jelly turns dark red of the and the foam along the edges of the pot is white and thick, test the jelly’s consistency by putting a spoonful on a plate and letting it cool.

·        Spoon the jelly into your sterilized jars and seal

Quince Paste

Ingredients:

Quince

Sugar (how much will depend on the weight of the pulp)

1 Lemon

Method:

• Wash the quince well to remove the fluffy down from the skin
• Fill a dish with warm water and add the juice of half a lemon
• Chop the quince into 2cm pieces, reserve the core and seeds
• As you chop drop the pieces into the water/lemon juice bath to prevent it going brown
• Remove from juice bath and place into a large saucepan with plenty of water along with the lemon peel
• Tie the cores and seeds into a square of muslin (cheesecloth) and add to the pot
• Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until fruit is soft (around 30 - 45 minutes depending on the amount of fruit you started with)
• Strain the fruit, reserving the cooking liquid (to use for the jelly) and the bag of cores
• Place the strained fruit into a food processor and process until smooth or return the fruit to the pot and blend using a stick blender (you can also use the back of a spoon if you wish)
• Weigh the pulp 
• Return to pot with 70-80 grams of sugar for every 100 grams of pulp (ie 1kg of pulp with 700 - 800 grams of sugar) and a little of the cooking water.
• Heat over low heat for 3-4 hours stirring occasionally. I used a slow cooker for this part and it took about 6 hours.
• The paste is ready when it is a deep red colour and is very thick, pulling away from the sides of the pan
• The last stage has various alternatives and I've used 2 of them:
• Spoon into sterilised jars and seal
• Pour into a lined baking pan or glass dish, smooth with a spoon and bake at 50 degrees Celsius for 5-6 hours. Refrigerate for 4 hours, then slice.