Once you have spent a day admiring your cleverness in conjuring red jelly from a plain old fruit – consider the leftovers.
Take the pile of chopped-up cooked quince, drained of all its cooking water (that is now jelly) and blend or liquidise. Pass this through a sieve. This is easily done with the back of a ladle and really takes no time at all.
Weigh the resulting puree.
Add three quarters of the weight in sugar, and heat in a saucepan. At this stage, it will be an unappetising colour (but surprisingly tasty!).
Bring to the boil. This will be a violent spitting, gurgling affair that covers your worktop with splashes of puree. This appears to be unavoidable, however many times I make this. So I just accept the mess and give everything a good clean afterwards.
Stir every few minutes to prevent it sticking. You don’t need it on a high heat, only enough to keep it spitting! And be patient. This may take a couple of hours.
Over time, the colour will darken to that of apples that have browned. And then, at some point that will escape you, you will find yourself stirring a rose-coloured viscous paste, and you’ll know it’s ready. The moment of transformation from fawn to pink evades me every time. It still strikes me as miraculous!
You can see the colour deepening to a toffee brown. Be careful that it doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan – keep the heat lower rather than higher. You can’t hurry this one.
Once it starts pulling away from the sides of the pan, and takes on a rosy hue, dollop it (it’ll be too thick to pour) into a tin lined with baking paper.
It’ll take a day or so to cool. Some recipes recommend that you then dry it. I don’t really find this necessary. It’ll keep forever! It doesn’t go off. However – it is delicious fodder for ants, mice and so on – so ensure you store it somewhere safe!
Over time, the red colour deepens:
Friends will be queueing for gifts of this delicious treat. Serve with hard cheeses (Manchego, Wensleydale, Cheddar).
One final note – the earlier in the Quince season you make this (that is NOW in the southern hemisphere) the more pectin the fruit has, and the better the result will be…
Doesn't Cost The Earth Interiors 
Hi
I loved your paste recipe
I found the directions and photos to be extremely helpful – much better than three other recipes on other sites.
Thank you for making it easy for me and it is sooooo delicious.
Jo-Ann
Hi,
I used quinces that had been hanging around over Xmas & were perhaps a bit past their best? Paste finished a deep brown, no red or rosiness which is a shame. Otherwise exactly as your recipe – perhaps I’d let it catch and caramalise a touch.
However the result is excellent, has a sort of ‘Tawny Port’ taste, rich and with a background quince flavour. Not floral in any way, but very more-ish. I’m thinking an English Stilton or a mature Lancashire cheese will match.
Actually, the younger the quinces, the better it works, as they have more pectin when they are under=ripe. However, I don’t think it really matters, as it is delicious either way! Lancashire cheese – I miss that….