I have never found anyone who says “I love quince” – even seasoned cooks will often question “what do you do with it?”  I’m not sure I could say that I love quince, but I do love the way it looks, particularly right off the tree in the fall farmers market.  Got a batch last weekend and wavered between making quince paste and a quince tarte tatin.  Choose the paste as it is such a great thing to have on hand to serve with a nice oozy cheese at the end of a lite meal.  Here is the recipe – if you can find fresh quince, make this part of your fall repertoire.  Just know that that green fuzzy skin and dense white flesh turn into a most delicate pink when the flesh is cooked.

6 to 7 medium quince, well-washed, stemmed, cored, and cut into hunks

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

3 cups water

2 cups sugar

Coarse sugar for dusting

Combine the quince with the lemon juice and zest in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a simmer; then, lower the heat and cook at a bare simmer for about 25 minutes or until the fruit is very soft.

Remove from the heat and pass the fruit through a food mill, discarding any solids that remain.

Line an 8-inch by 10-inch baking pan with parchment paper and coat the paper with nonstick, unflavored vegetable spray.  If you’re not fussy, you can simply spray the pan, directly.   Set aside.

Return the puréed fruit to the saucepan along with the sugar.  Place over low heat and cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 minutes or until the mixture is very thick, but still pourable.  If it sticks to the bottom before it has thickened, remove the pan from the heat and let it rest for a bit.  The stuck fruit should release from the pan and can be stirred back into the mix.  If, however, it burns before you can catch it, gently transfer the non-burned mix to a clean, heavy-bottomed saucepan, return to low heat, and continue to cook until very thick.

Remove from the heat and pour into the prepared pan, using an offset spatula to spread it out to an even layer.  Set aside to cool completely.

When cool, invert the pan onto a clean piece of parchment paper.  Set aside, uncovered, to set for at least 24 hours or until completely firm.

When firm, cut into 1-inch squares.

Place the coarse sugar in a shallow bowl and roll each square in the sugar.  Set aside to set until completely dry.  If humid, this can take forever!!!!

When completely dry, store, airtight, in layers separated by parchment paper.  It should keep in a cool spot (not refrigerated) for quite awhile – maybe even a year or so.