Quinches are an excellent fruit for preserving and baking as it is not the best fruit for eating raw, it is very hard and has a raw, numb taste to it, so called "cottonmouth", but it can be used in various other ways, baked, preserved and as marmalade which at the same time can be served as the alleged "glyko tou koutaliou" meaning sweet on the spoon. When they are raw and hard they are quite difficult to clean especially to cut out the middle part with the pips. Once Quinches are cooked they become so aromatic and they color to a beautiful orange to red, the longer they cook the redder they become. That's why the sweet is left overnight to cool down and boiled once more the next day. This can be done for at least 3 subsequent days. It actually becomes better this way.
Ingredients
1 kg of Quinces
sugar
water
lemon juice
a stalk from a Pelargonium Citrosum plant, the so called lemon geranium
Method
Pour the water and sugar in a large casserole and bring slowly to the boil.
In the meantime peel the fruits and cut in pieces.
Put the pieces in a large bowl with plenty of water and fresh lemon juice. The fruit colors brown and this lemon-juice prevents it from coloring brown, like apples and pears.
With the help of a kitchen machine grate coarsely the pieces of fruit.
Add the grated fruit to the syrup.
Add the lemon geranium stalk and bring to the boil
Whilst boiling a foam will appear on the top, with the help of a skimmer, skim off this foam.
The fruit will gradually soften and become a beautiful red color.
As the water evaporates a thick jam/sweet remains. This sweet can be used as a marmalade on fresh bread or a pancake and as the so called sweet on a spoon.
Add the hot sweet to hot sterilized jars and close tight, turn them up side down for 10 minutes and turn them good side up. Leave to cool down and lids will pop vacuum whilst cooling down. Can be stored for up to a year in a room temperature and dark place. Very nice as a home prepared give-away.
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