Thursday, April 1, 2010

Thermomix Quince Paste



Quince paste is such a wonderful little accompaniment to cheese, and when somebody gives you a dozen quinces, it is just the thing to cook, especially if you have a Thermomix.

Quince paste used to be such a chore and fraught with dangers as the hot sticky mixture spits up while you stir to stop it sticking to the base of the pan.

In Frank Camorra and Richard Cornish's latest cookbook "MoVida Rustica" there is a story about Frank's father making a membrillo machine with an industrial mixer and a gas jet. Well, the Thermomix is just like Frank's father's machine, being able to mix and cook at the same time.

The recipe in "Movida Rustica" does not use the core and peel, which is how I learned to cook it from Maggie Beer's "Maggie's Farm". I have seen recipes for quince paste using whole quinces in the Thermomix, but I find them too gritty. This is a little more time consuming, but the pectin from the peel and core once strained helps set the paste, without the gritty bits.

Please make sure that your Thermomix is not going to run off the bench. I used silicon mats that I received from an Electrolux demonstration under each foot on the Thermomix. They acted likey anti-slip mats.

Good luck and hope that you enjoy the results.





THERMOMIX QUINCE PASTE

Ingredients

1500 g quinces
600 g water
about 800 g sugar

Method


Wash, peel and core quinces. Place peel and cores in TM Bowl and chop for 20 seconds on speed 5, using spatula to push the peel down.

Cut quince flesh into chunks and place in Varoma tray.

Add water to the TM bowl and position Varoma and cook for 25 minutes at Varoma Temperature on speed 1.

Remove the Varoma tray and leave aside. Strain the peel and core mixture and collect the liquid in a separate bowl. Dispose of the pulp, clean the TM bowl and weigh in the liquid and pieces of quince into the TM bowl. Blend for 10 seconds on speed 5.

Add about three-quarters of the weight of pulp in sugar to the TM bowl. Mix for 15 seconds on speed 5.

Cook for 50 minutes at Varoma temperature on Speed 5 with the MC out and a Chux or similar over the opening and the steamer basket placed on top to reduce splatter.

NOTE that I placed silicon mats under the feet of the TMX to prevent it moving on the bench. Another alternative if you are not watching all the time is to place the whole machine into an empty kitchen sink to prevent it wandering off the bench.

Once cooked allow it to cool slightly (about 5 minutes) and pour into a tray greased with olive oil. Allow the tray to cool before covering and storing in the fridge.

Once set, it can be cut into pieces and wrapped in baking or greaseproof paper and then plastic wrap or foil.

47 comments:

  1. Create to see you back in the saddle, Jeff!!
    I have tried Quince paste both on the stove and in the TM. Both times it set like a winner, but never changed colour into the lovely pink that it should.
    I didn't bother this year, but now I might just wander out to see if there are any left on the tree ....

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  2. I'll make this as soon as I see quinces in the shop. Does it freeze?

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  3. Looks fantastic Jeff...love the whole cubism thing!

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  4. Yippee. I have found some quinces to make this with.

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  5. Having fun - not - with comments. Thanks all for your comments.

    Barbara - there is no need to freeze it - it keeps well just wrapped/sealed away from nasties on the pantry shelf.

    Cookie - glad to hear you found quinces, just realised that I STILL haven't transferred this to the forum.

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  6. This turned out wonderfully for me - and the pink colour is superb. With the TM there is very little work for a great reward - thank you!

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  7. Thanks for the comment - it is soooo easy with the TMX :)

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  8. 'Truely amazing' is what my daughter said. 'That's great' is what my husband said.
    'Too easy' is what I say. Thanks for the recipe.

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  9. Worked brilliantly - thanks for the recipe - much easier than when we made it on the stove and had to stand there stirring for a couple of hours. Only difference was the colour - it looked like the picture above whereas our stovetop version was a lovely red wine colour - not enough of an issue to go back to the stove though.

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  10. This is seriously the best recipe ever. I made several batches last season... and I still have one beautiful little quince paste left in the fridge. Gold. Can't wait for the quinces to be ready again!

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  11. Thanks. Dani Valent put it in her new book.

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  12. Free quinces - minimal effort - fantastic result (I just cooked for 1hr40 and it became a very deep rose). I had 9 portions of quince paste for 1 dollar of sugar :)

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  13. Awesome recipe Jeff! I made some yesterday and had to blog about it: http://bushgourmand.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/quince-paste.html
    Thanks so much!

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  14. I have made this 3 times so far and each time it is setting too firm, what could i be doing wrong?

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  15. I'd try cooking for just 40 minutes if it seems to be too firm. Best to keep a check. Stop at 30 minutes & if it seems to be looking thick then cut back the cooking time.

    Good luck

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  16. If you have some hard stuff left it may even pay to try breaking some up in the TMX & mixing with a SMALL amount of water & mixing it at 90 or 100 for a few minutes to see if you can produce a softer product. As long as it doesn't have a burnt taste it should work. Nothing to lose.

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    1. Great idea might try that too I have 2 whole batches of the hard stuff! If I can save it it will be woolrhhwhile, thanks for the tips x

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    2. YAY It worked! Thankyou so much for the tips! I ended up cooking for only 40 minutes and the result was what i was looking for! Ive attached a photo of the results, thanks again x

      http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=231385630298278&set=a.128517347251774.15196.122227757880733&type=1&theater

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  17. GOOD WORK.

    Did you try reconstituting any of the hard stuff?

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    1. Yes, I tried reconstituting some of my 'hard stuff'. It took some work but after about 6 minutes on 6 with the addition of approx 200mL of water all the lumps were gone but it was really coudy. I then heated it on 90 for 5 minutes, speed 5 and it became a little clearer. The consistency was much better so we'll see how it goes...

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  18. Don't attempt to make while your baby is sleeping! It is very noisy!!!

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  19. Excellent! I'm hopefully attempting it this weekend :)

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  20. Thanks for this recipe. I had a bit of confusion when I got to "add about three-quarters of the weight of pulp in sugar", as it wasn't immediately clear whether this should be the weight of the pulp I had just thrown away or the weight of the newly pulped fruit: I chose the second, which seems to have been correct. I needed about 1kg of sugar, in case anyone is wondering.

    I also hadn't checked that I had enough sugar, so I ended up using almost every form of sugar we had in our pantry, making up the full weight with a combination of raw sugar, icing sugar, corn syrup, frustose and honey. Despite that, it worked well!

    -- significance

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  21. I made this with feijoas and it worked a treat. Just had to reduce cooking time to 25 minutes.

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  22. Thank you for this recipe! I have just poured it into a glass dish to set and it looks beautiful! It is so nice to have it all worked out for me and to have it WORK. PERFECTLY! xx

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  23. Thanks so much for the fab quince paste recipe! Perfect!!!!!

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  24. Good to hear the recipe is holding up

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  25. I made this today with just 2 quince ..ajusted the recipe .. it made 6 Maggie Beer size portions.. I cooked it for 50 mins on just 1 instead of 5 and is perfect .. I couldn't stand the noise of 5 for fifty mins ..

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  26. Hi I tried this last night and have a question. I forgot to note the weight so couldn't tell what amount of sugar to put in buy then realised I only had approx 350g of sugar left in my pantry so used up all that I had. The paste turned out a nice darkish red and it looked like it was set. However when I took it out today to cut up and store under a thin layer of what was set it was all fudgy. Does the sugar help it set as I didn't use enough of it or? It's still lovely and very spreadable but not firm that you could cut it up into squares. Any ideas?

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  27. You could try putting it back in the TMX with some more sugar & blend/cook ti again for longer. It is fairly forgiving.

    Worth trying.

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  28. Thanks for this recipe and your blog. It worked perfectly and has inspired friends to buy a thermomix and try it.

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  29. I have this cooking now and was unsure if the quince weight was before or after peeling I went with before is this correct ?

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  30. cooked it for 40 mins and it looks done but colour sort of orange not deep pimk will cooking ii longer deepen the colour or should that not be worried about it and just enjoy ..

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  31. Sorry, for the sugar, it is 3/4 of the weight of the flesh & strained juice/pectin mix. So weigh in the juice & flesh, blitz, then add the sugar.

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  32. so mine set to hard so added 200 mls water and gave it a blitz///it has gone cloudy not clear like it was before I blitzed it ...tastes fiine though ...

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  33. absolutely beautiful, it turned out great, I won't be looking for any other recipe
    thanks
    Lidia

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  34. Will file this for future reference. You say no need to freeze. Roughly hjow long will it last in the fridge. TIA

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    Replies
    1. Should last a year if well sealed, if you can leave it that long.

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  35. Its a fabulous recipe thanks for sharing Jeff. I left the skin on & having to split into 2 batches due to overload. It set very quickly within minutes I pulled into the tray. I only used 60-70% sugar of the total mixture. The color was the same as your picture while the taste was nice & the texture was medium, a thumb up from the taste testers, my 3yo toddler is eating it like a lolly

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  36. I'm making this now. Just straining the pulp. Do I just add the liquid from pulp or do I need to add water?

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  37. Great recipe. Thank you! Have made three beautiful batches and all look and taste fabulous.

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  38. Hi Jeff, thank you for brilliant quince paste recipe; will be gifted through the Gavens family!
    Cheers,
    Juliet

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  39. Thanks from Holland. I made your recipe in the Thermomix today and unlike a previous try without the Tmix it was an overwhelming succes. No need to put in the fridge. So I have this tree full of quinces .... ��

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  40. Just wondering- mine didn't set quite as hard as I'm used to - would it be best to cut and store in fridge or pantry given its still a little gooey? Thanks (Tastes amazing!)

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    1. Best to break mit up, put it back in TMX & cook another 10-15 minutes to firm it up?

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