Quinces… red wine, cinnamon, ginger, honey…

One of the loveliest recipes I have ever translated: quince confectionery, or quince fruit leather if you will… From a delightful little book I translated into English a couple of years back, here courtesy of www.arsvivendi.com

Quince Confectionery

Makes about 80 pieces

2 kg ripe quinces

Approx. 1l good red wine

600 g honey

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

Baking paper for the baking sheet

2 tbsp oil for the baking sheet

Fresh bay leaves or sugar crystals for serving

Rub the quinces well with a cloth. Remove any stems and cut the fruit into quarters. Place the quarters in a saucepan and cover with red wine. Bring to the boil and leave to simmer over a medium heat for about 50 minutes until the quinces are very soft. Pour into a sieve and leave to drain.

Press the quince flesh through a sieve and weigh out 1kg. Combine with the honey and bring to the boil. Simmer over a low heat, stirring all the time, until the mixture has become thick and transparent. Stir in the cinnamon and ginger.

Line a baking sheet with baking paper and brush with oil. Spread the quince paste over the paper at a thickness of 1-11/5 cm. Leave the quince paste to dry for about two days. As soon as the surface is dry to the touch, turn it over and leave to dry for a further two days.

Cut the dried quince paste into little diamond shapes or cubes. To serve, line a serving dish with bay leaves and arrange the quince confectionary on top. Alternatively, sprinkle the pieces with sugar crystals and serve in a bowl.

Taken from Dürer’s Little Cookbook Yesterday’s recipes for today’s food lovers

Compiled by Petra Teetz, translated by Katherine Taylor and published by ars vivendi verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Cadolzburg, Germany

© 2009 German version © 2012 English version

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