It’s Quince Time!

Success! Last autumn, I gave my “Vranja” quince tree one last chance: if, despite its fruit looking fine when picked, it turned out to be brown inside again this year, as it has been in the past, its time was up and it was to be uprooted. But no, this year the fruit is perfect inside and out and even though it all looked rather small earlier in the summer, probably due to the very dry weather, it’s ended up being pretty much full size and there’s lots of it.

I’ve picked all the fruit I can reach from the ground now - a total of about 3kg so far - but there’s still twice as much left on the tree, so it’ll be time to get the ladder out at the weekend. The first pickings have given me more than enough to make some of my tried and trusted recipes already, though.

First, lots of membrillo (quince jam) to serve as part of a cheeseboard (or it makes a lovely addition to a humble toasted cheese sandwich!). And then, once the membrillo was made, I used it as the base for Quince Tartlets which are delicious eaten straightaway, or they freeze surprisingly well too. Here are links to the two recipes - and bear in mind that if you don’t have a ready supply of quinces, the tartlets are really good made with plums or apples instead: https://a-cooks-plot.blogspot.com/2018/10/quince-tartlets-with-membrillo.html