Jane grigson's quince candies
Candies
Ever since I read "Good Things" by Jane Grigson I have wanted to cook all kinds of quince recipes. She wrote the book in quirky chapters, with one for Meat Pies, and of course, one for Apples and Quince. This recipe, adapted from her recipe for Membrilo, is similar to a fruit jelly but easier to make. Her recipes are somewhat elliptical and I have tried to add more detail about how to cook the fruit and get the candy to the right texture. We make it to give as a gift at Christmas time and to eat after the big holiday meals. The cornelian color is beautiful, and because the fruit starts a dull cream, it's like alchemy to see it change as it cooks. I have never seen a flowering quince, but they also sound exotically beautiful. She describes them as "the most beautiful of the blossoms of spring, the quince's soft pink globes, with their falling ruff of silver green leaves" (from Good Things by Jane Grigson). The paste can be flavored with cloves, cinnamon, vanilla and grated lemon or orange rind, but I like it best plain, with any flavoring added after the paste is cooked by using a flavored sugar, like vanilla sugar. Plain is nice, too, if you don't have vanilla. You can also swaddle them in powdered sugar.
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