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Nutritional Guidelines (per serving) | |
---|---|
86 | Calories |
0g | Fat |
22g | Carbs |
0g | Protein |
Nutrition Facts | |
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Servings: 32 | |
Amount per serving | |
Calories | 86 |
% Daily Value* | |
Total Fat 0g | 0% |
Saturated Fat 0g | 0% |
Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
Sodium 1mg | 0% |
Total Carbohydrate 22g | 8% |
Dietary Fiber 0g | 0% |
Protein 0g | |
Calcium 6mg | 0% |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. |
Looking at a raw quince, you would never guess that this ugly duckling fruit could turn into such an exquisite jelly. A fruit popular in antiquity in the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian plain, it was a sacred emblem of the goddess Aphrodite.
A raw quince is a lumpy, yellow fruit that looks something like a misshapen pear with flesh like a super hard apple. Raw quinces are inedible, but when cooked, quinces yield a delicately aromatic juice with a unique rosy color. Quince is a member of the rose family, not unlike apples and pears.
Quinces are naturally high in pectin, so you will not need to add pectin in order to get a good jell from the juice. A wonderful blush color develops in the final stages of cooking.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 pounds quinces (about 4 large fruits)
- 7 cups water
- 3 1/2 cups sugar (granulated)
Steps to Make It
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Gather the ingredients.
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Wash the quinces and cut off the stem ends. Leave the peels on. Core the fruit by chopping around the cores. Compost or discard the stems and cores.
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Chop the fruit into large chunks, 6 to 8 pieces per quince.
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Place the quince in a large pot. Pour in the water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until the fruit is mushy-soft (about 1 hour).
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Mash the cooked quince with a potato masher. If the mashed fruit is on the dry side, add a little more water. You want a consistency like soupy applesauce.
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Place a colander lined with a double layer of cheesecloth or a very finely meshed strainer over a large bowl or pot. Ladle the runny quince mash into the strainer or cheesecloth-lined colander. Leave it for 2 hours. Save the mash to make quince paste.
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You should end up with at least 4 cups of juice. If you are not getting much juice, stir a little more water into the mash in the cheesecloth-lined colander or the strainer (do not add the water directly to the strained juice or it will be too diluted).
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Sterilize the canning jars in boiling water. While the jars are sterilizing, measure the juice. Pour the quince juice into a large pot. Add 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar per cup of juice.
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Bring the juice to a boil over high heat. Stir constantly at first until the sugar is completely dissolved. Stir occasionally after that until the ​gel point.
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Ladle into sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving 1/2-inch space at the top. Screw on canning lids.
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Process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes. Remove the jars of quince jelly from the boiling water bath and allow them to cool completely.
Tip
- If you are new to jelly making, know that the jelly will still be completely liquid when the jars come out of the boiling water bath. It will become a jelly consistency as it cools.
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