We've recently had a glut of quinces, and as well as making quince chutney I've been cooking up some membrillo.

Membrillo, or quince cheese, is useful to make in the run up to Christmas as it's a great addition to a cheese board. It's sweetness really complements the strong flavours of a cheese such as mature cheddar.

Fruit cheeses are similar in ingredients to jam, but are cooked longer so that they set solid and can be sliced.

It can also look stunning if you have the patience to make it in decorative moulds.

  See here for the membrillo recipe in more detail.

Recipe Costs

£4.00 1kg quinces (cost from the market, mine were free)
£0.70 500g - 750g granulated sugar

£4.70 Total

£4.70 per kg of membrillo (£0.70 without buying the quinces, less then 10% the cost of buying online)

The quinces are roughly chopped, leaving the peel and cores intact. Quinces are very tough when they are uncooked so it's a pleasure not to have to core or peel them.

The fruit is put in a preserving pan with just enough water to cover and the brought to the boil. The fruit should be simmered until soft, in my case this took about an hour and a half.

After leaving to cool the pulp is rubbed through a metal sieve, this is quite a task and I used a combination of a metal spoon and a silicone spatula.

The pulp is then weighed and then returned to the clean pan with the same weight of sugar.

Bring to the boil stirring to ensure the sugar all dissolves, then simmer for about an hour. The mixture needs to be very thick, so be careful it doesn't stick towards the end, take care at this point as it has a tendency to spit.
You should be able to see the base of the pan for a few seconds after drawing a wooden spoon through it. (see this blog post about chutney for a similar thickness)

The membrillo can be poured into deep oven dishes (like a bread tin) lined with baking parchment or greaseproof paper, or for a more decorative touch poured into silicone moulds.
It can also be poured into sterilised jars and sealed with a lid, although you will then have to dig it out with a spoon.

Store membrillo from moulds in the fridge wrapped in greaseproof paper.
Jars will keep unopened for up to a year.

Recipe Timings

10mins Preparation
80 mins Cooking
15 mins Pulping
70 mins Cooking Pulp
10 mins Bottling

Taste Test

We had a block of this membrillo on the cheese board throughout Christmas and it was complimented on many times, often from people who had never tried it before.
It went particularly well with some traditional hard Red Leicester.