I was lucky enough to be given a bagful of quinces by some friends so I decided to look in my medieval and Tudor recipe books for some quince recipes and found this one. I hope you enjoy it and do let me know if you try it and what you think. It really is delicious and is disappearing fast in our household.
Quince Marmalade Recipe
For both types of marmalade
Put whole quinces in a saucepan, cover with water and stew until tender, about an hour. Pierce with the blunt end of a skewer or spoon-handle to check that they're tender.
Peel, core and slice the fruit.
Weigh the fruit and weigh out an equal amount of sugar.
For red marmalade
Put the fruit, the water they stewed in and the sugar in a pan and simmer on the lowest possible heat with a lid on for 6-7 hours, or until a dark red, almost black.
Raise the heat and boil fast while stirring, until the liquid has almost evaporated.
Cool a little and then spoon into sterilised jam jars.
For white marmalade
And this can be done with raspberries, gooseberries, cherries or plums too.
Put sugar in a large, thick-bottomed pan.
Moisten the sugar with a little water (¼ to ½ pint per pound of sugar).
Stir over a gentle heat until dissolved.
Then boil it hard until it's 115 degrees C/ 240 F on a sugar thermometer, when it will crystallise if you beat it.
Tip in the clean dry fruit and heat over a low heat until the sugar has melted a second time. This can take up to an hour.
Leave to cool slightly before ladling into sterilised jars.
From Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book: Elizabethan Country House Cooking, edited by Hilary Spurling.
This looks delicious!
It is, I was really pleased with it and it’s been a big hit in our household.
Yum! Thanks for sharing Claire!
It is really yummy and although it takes a long time to cook I just left it simmering while I worked.