- Wash the quinces and cut into cubes. Put the pieces in a pot and cover with water, cook on high heat for 20 minutes after boiling or until they are soft. Pass it with a strainer and put the same amount of sugar in the pot with the flesh of the quince dripped and puree.
- Cook over high heat and after boiling cooking on low heat, mixing with a wooden spoon for 15, 20 minutes.
- Put into a mold, leave cooling to room temperature and cover with aluminum paper. Place in the freezer for a few days.
- Suggestion: To prevent the cake from sticking to the pan, grease the bottom with a bit of butter.
The quince is a fruit which takes its name from the Quince tree, it is a small tree, covered with a sort of ash, its flowers are very beautiful and can be pink or white, the fruit form is very similar to that of a pear, but it is yellow like an orange.
The quince tree comes from Asia Minor and Caucasus originally, the Greeks and Romans introduced the fruit in Spain they ate it cooked sweetened with honey. The Romans also used it to make a spirit.
Today, the quince is typical of Southern Europe and the countries on the shore of the Caspian Sea, it grows mainly in the southern and central zone of East Asia (Armenia, Turkistan and Syria)it also is grown in Greece, in the Balkans and Argentina. In Spain there are plantations in Valencia, Murcia, Extremadura and Andalusia.
The quince has a very aromatic, sour and bitter tastes, so it is unlike to be eaten raw. The sweet is prepared simply cooking pulp quince with equal quantity of sugar, the result is a solid mass which can be cut to accompany various dishes. It can spread on biscuits or use as an ingredient in some cakes, it can be combined with cheese plate, in the north of Spain often it is served with cheese tapas.
The sweet with quince also called “carne de membrillo” is typical of Spain and Portugal, and also in Italy quince is grown in Sicily, Lombardy, Trentino, Abruzzo and Apulia. Variants of the sweet are prepared in France, Greece, Turkey and in Mexico it is also known as Ate de membrillo.
To prepare the quince jam
Store the juice in which we cooked the quinces, and for each cup of juice add 3\4 of a cup of sugar, put all in a pot: the quinces previously passed as a puree, water used to cook the quinces and sugar. Cook over high heat to bring to a boil and then continue to cook over a low heat. Cook for about 45 minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon. Remove the foam that forms on the surface with the help of a perforated spoon. To check if the jam is ready put a little part in a dish and use the spoon to make a groove in the center of it and if it does not close the jam is ready. Then take away from the fire and put it in glass cans and close with the cap when it is still hot.
Quince Benefits
Asthma, bronchitis, cough and cold: eat cooked facilitates expectoration
Diarrhea and dysentery: eat cooked or drink the juice sweetened with honey
Expectorant : quince’s seed cooked are an excellent expectorant and they may relieve bronchial inflammation
For hair’s loss: It is necessary to eliminate all the mucilage that covers the seeds and the seeds themselves, and put them to soak the fruits in hot water. after two days it looks like a syrup with which you soak the hair, giving brilliance and fix it uniformly.