Quince paste


Quince paste
This traditional French "pâte de fruit" (fruit paste or leather) has a distinctive, firm consistency and is full of flavour, with the characteristic tang of quince.

The preparation is rather long, but the result is well worth all the effort.
52 K 4/5 (5 reviews)
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Last modified on: December 3rd 2017
For 450 g, you will need:
  • 1 quince 400 g quince
  • 2 lemon ¼ lemon
  • 3 granulated sugar 225 g granulated sugar
  • 4 jam sugar 15 g jam sugar
  • 5 orange ½ orange (optional)
  • Total weight: 675 grams

Change these quantities to make:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 35 min.
Resting: 1 hour
Cooking: 30 min.
All in all: 2 hours 3 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
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Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - 3 min.
Quince paste
Wash and brush 400 g quinces, but do not peel, as the skin add to the flavour.

Stage 2 - 8 min.
Quince paste
Cut the quinces into quarters, then remove and discard the core. Cut each quarter into small pieces.

Put the quince pieces into a saucepan, add ¼ lemon cut into 4 and just enough water to cover.

Note: From 800g of quinces, you should be left with 500 g of cut fruit.

Stage 3 - 20 min.
Quince paste
Put the pan uncovered on medium heat and cook until the fruit is soft enough for the point of a knife to go through it easily.

Stage 4 - 5 min.
Quince paste
After cooking, discard the lemon pieces and pass the quinces through a vegetable mill on "fine" setting.

Do not throw away the cooking liquid.

Stage 5 - 3 min.
Quince paste
Transfer the quince pulp into a saucepan and weigh it (from 500 g cut fruit, you should be left with about 350 g of cooked pulp).

Weigh 30% of this weight in cooking liquid (100 g here), then mix this with the quince pulp.

You can add the zest of ½ orange at this point.

Stage 6 - 3 min.
Quince paste
Weigh 225 g granulated sugar (this should be the same wieght as the mixture of fruit pulp and cooking liquid).

Take out 50 g of this sugar at mix it separately with the 15 g jam sugar.

Stage 7 - 4 min.
Quince paste
Put the saucepan on high heat and bring to the boil, then tip in the 50 g of sugar with its gelling agent.

Stage 8 - 3 min.
Quince paste
Mix well, bring back to the boil and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Stage 9 - 1 min.
Quince paste
Add the rest of the sugar all at once.

Stage 10 - 3 min.
Quince paste
Mix well, bring back to the boil and cook for a further 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Stage 11 - 1 hour
Quince paste
Pour into a mould or tin, lined with a sheet of cooking parchment.

Leave to cool for at least 1 hour.

Stage 12 - 10 min.
Quince paste
Turn out and cut into pieces about the size of a sugar cube.

Stage 13
Quince paste
You can make the paste look more attractive by rolling the pieces in a little granulated sugar, but this is not essential.
Remarks
This is a very ancient sweetmeat, particularly appreciated at the French court during the Renaissance. It was apparently a favourite of both Marie de' Medici and the Duc de Guise.
Keeping: Several days (weeks, even) in the fridge, covered with plastic film.
Source: From gaston Lenôtre, but dedicated to Isabelle and Patrick who will recognise something of themselves here..
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe3 RDI=1 %300 RDI=30 %2 RDI=0 %1,250 RDI=60 %5,220 RDI: 60 %
Per 100 g050 RDI=4 %0190 RDI=9 %780 RDI: 9 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man
How much will it cost?
  • For 450 g : 1.10 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
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