Quinces Are In.

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 65, 18 March 1936, Page 14

Quinces Are In.

Delicious jams, jellies and conserves may be made from quinces, no part of which need be wasted. Sort the quinces, saving the finest ones for baking and for fancy preserves; use the medium ones for pickling and marmalades, conserves, etc., and the culls for jelly.

Quince Jelly. Quinces have too little acid and to much pectin to make a desirable jelly when the juice alone is used. An equal amount or twice as much tart apple improves the flavour. Equal parts of cranberry, quince and apple juice give a jelly of rich, red colour and delicious flavour. Cut the quinces into small pieces. Do not pare, but remove the core and seeds, for they prevent the jelly from forming correctly. Add sufficient water to cover, and cook until tender. Quinces require long cooking to become tender and to bring out their flavour and deep, rich colour. Drain off the juice through a jelly bag. Measure the juice after combining with apple or other juice, bring to a vigorous boil, skim and add three-fourths as much sugar as fruit juice. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. The jelly should form in from 10 to 20 minutes. Skim several times during boiling. When the mixture shows the jelly test, remove from the fire immediately and pour into hot sterilised jelly jars. Quince Pickle.

For this, eight or 10 ripe quinces are required, also l£lb. of loaf sugar, a blade of mace, six cloves, and a pint of white vinegar. Peel the quinces, core and quarter them and as they arc done throw them into enough cold water to cover the fruit to keep them a good colour. Boil in this water for an hour to an hour and a-half or until quite tender. Boil the cores and peel in a separate vessel, and strain the liquid. Strain off the juice from the quinces, and to each pint of the combined liquids allow one pint of vinegar and 11 lb. of lump sugar. Boil this with the spices, then strain, put in the pieces of quince, and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Fill small glass jars and tie down while hot. It will be ready for use in three weeks’ time and is of a beautiful red colour. Quince Mincemeat. One large quince, seven large apples, 4oz. of suet, one cupful each of seeded raisins and seedless raisins, half a cupful each of candied fruit peel (cut fine) and treacle, three-quarters of a cupful of sugar, two teaspoonsful of salt, one-quarter of a teaspoonful each of mace, cinnamon and allspice, half a cupful each of cooking sherry and nutmeats. Pare and core the quince, and put through a mincer with the pared and cored apples, and suet. Add the remaining ingredients except the nut meats, stir, bring slowly to boiling point and stir and cook for five minutes. Add , the nutmeats before baking the pies.

Quince Jam. Take the quinces when quite ripe, and pare, core and cut them into small pieces, putting these into a deep jar, which half-fill with cold water. Cover and leave in a hot oven for several hours. When thoroughly soft press through a sieve and to every pound of pulp allow an equal weight of loaf sugar, putting this first into the pan with just enough water to dissolve it at the bottom. When it has boiled clear, add the quince pulp, and boil for threequarters of an hour, stirring frequently. Put into small jars. It makes a jam of beautiful colour.

Candied Quinces. Take good sound quinces, peel them, cut in quarters and remove the cores, plunging them into cold water so that they will not discolour. Drain them, put in a saucepan with enough wrnter to cover, and cook over a slow fire until tender. Drain in a colander and when they are thoroughly dry put through a fine sieve. Add a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit pulp, and mix thoroughly together in a bowl. Spread an inch thick on platters, dust with sugar, and allow to stand to dry four or five days. Cut in narrow strips to serve. This will keep in a tight container in a dry place. The juice may be combined with apple or cranberry juice and made into jelly.

Quince Chips. Put the peelings of two seedless oranges through the mincer,'using the coarse knife, then add a cupful of water, and simmer until tender. Add the juice and pulp of the fruit and three cupsful of quinces—pared, cored and put through the mincer. Cook for 20 minutes, add from one to one and a-lialf cupsful of sugar, and cook 10 minutes longer. Or, instead of oranges, try chopped cranberries, pears or pineapples, with a cupful of water and sugar at discretion.

Preserves. Two cupsful each of quinces and pears, three lemons, two cupsful of sweet apples and peaches, six cupsful of sugar. Do not remove the skins. Slice the fruit. Cook the apples, peaches, pears and quinces separately until tender, then drain off the juice from each and add to it the sugar. Boil the mixture until it becomes a medium thick syrup, then add the fruit, the juice of two lemons, aud one lemon thinly sliced. Cook the mixture until it is thick, and seal at once in sterilised jars. Blackberry Season.

Blackberry jam will not keep unless made from perfectly dry and fresh fruit. As in the case of most other jams, three-quarters of a pound of sugar should be used to every pound of blackberries but the fruit should be weighed after picking off the stalks. Sliced apples added with water to blackberries is an improvement and makes an addition to the juice.