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Dessert

Preserved Qulnces

A method of preserving quinces in sugar syrup, then storing them in jars.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Quince and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,444 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓

Preserved Qulnces

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the quinces

  1. Pare and core the quinces, removing any knotty or defective parts.

  2. Cut the quinces into quarters or round slices.

  3. Place them in a preserving kettle and cover with a little water.

  4. Lay a large plate over the quinces to trap steam and boil until tender.

  5. Remove the quinces and strain the liquid through a bag.

Make the syrup and preserve

  1. For every pint of liquid, add 1 pound of loaf sugar.

  2. Boil the juice and sugar together for about 10 minutes, skimming well.

  3. Add the quinces and boil gently for 20 minutes.

  4. Once the sugar has penetrated the quinces, remove them and place in a glass jar.

  5. Pour the warm juice over the quinces and seal with brandy paper once cool.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Quince + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,444 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Quinces
Provide the fruit whose firm flesh turns tender and sets into a preserve with the syrup.
Loaf sugar
Sweetens the fruit and, at high concentration, helps preserve it by drawing out water.

The step that matters

Boiling the quinces gently after adding them to the syrup. Boiling too hard can break the fruit apart and make it mushy. Gentle simmering lets the syrup slowly penetrate the flesh while the pieces keep their shape.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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