As mentioned in an earlier post about Henry Miller, I first came across a quince tree while living for one magical year in his Big Sur house. The old gnarled tree at the edge of his property produced just enough chartreuse-yellow fruits for me to make several jars of quince jelly and try my hand at quince paste, that ruby orange paste known as membrillo in Spain, commonly served with sheep’s milk cheese, like Manchego.

Quince are somewhat of a cross between an apple and a pear, hard as the dickens, strangely shaped with a furry skin, and pretty much inedible raw. Once cooked, though, the snowy white flesh turns a beautiful rosy color, which deepens the longer it cooks. Just the smell of it, with tropical notes of honey and pineapple, bubbling away on the stove can be intoxicating. Quince can be turned into wonderful jams and jellies, poached in syrup, made into a beautiful sauce, or coupled with apples or pears in a pie. Look for the fruit in farmers markets or on outings in the country.

My quince jelly recipe is adapted from one in Art of Preserving (Chronicle) by Jan Berry, an excellent book now out of print. She essentially calls for 1 cup of sugar to every 1 1/4 cups of juice. I make mine with less sugar, but without altering the set. Note that quince are very hard and cutting them can be a challenge; use a sharp knife.

Ingredients

4-5 pounds quinces, preferably under ripe

Granulated sugar

Wash the quinces and rub off the fur. Coarsely chop and place the fruit (and pips) in a pot with enough cool water to cover. Bring the water to a boil over medium heat and cook the quinces until soft and very pulpy, about an hour. Place the contents of the pot in a jelly bag (or use a double layer of cheese cloth tied in a knot) and allow to drip over night into a separate pot (you may have to rig this up over a chair or something with elevation); avoid the temptation to squeeze the contents of the bag or the jelly will become cloudy.

The next morning, measure the juice. For every cup of juice, add a scant cup of sugar (less than 7/8). Boil the juice and sugar until you reach the setting point, about 45-50 minutes or so (You can test the set by placing a drop of jelly on a cold dish and return it to the freezer; after about a minute, run your finger through the jelly and it should wrinkle if it’s set. If not, continue cooking). Remove any scum that rises to the surface. Ladle the warm jelly into sterilized jars and seal.

Note: For 4 pounds of fruit, I recently gained about 3 1/2 cups or so of juice. You can, and I have done so, cook the fruit again to release more juice, as needed.