Easy Quince Jelly
With its sweet flavor, beautiful color, and floral aroma, quince jelly is a delicious condiment! In this post, I’ll show you how to make quince jelly or jam, as well as a deliciously sweet quince candy!
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When quince are ripe in the fall, making preserves is a great way to make the most out of the fruit. It has a lovely flavor and delicate floral fragrance. Some years ago, I planted a quince tree in our garden, and every year, I look forward to harvesting its fruit!
While raw quince are not edible, canning quince is easy to do! Since I like to use the entire fruit, I will also teach you how to make jam or paste and quince squares.
What you have here is my kitchen-tested, time-honored, family recipe for quince jelly. I can’t even count how many times I have made it, and I still come back to it every year.
What makes this Quince Jelly recipe special
👉 Fun fact: Did you know that quince is both singular and plural? I didn’t, especially since that is not the case in my native German language.
Ingredients
Talk about easy! You only need two ingredients to make a delicious quince jelly!
- Ripe quince: When the fruit is raw/uncooked, it tastes awful – it is much too sour to enjoy! The way to tell if quince fruit is ripe is by smelling the blossom end. When it is ripe, quince have firm flesh and a somewhat strong floral fragrance.
- White granulated sugar
- Optional: Citric acid – I like to add it because it helps to preserve the rose color of the flesh.
TIP: It isn’t uncommon to find dark spots on quince like you see in the photo below. It is because the fruit tends to attract bugs. Simply use a paring knife to cut around any spots.
Useful tools and equipment
If you have made jams and jellies before, I am sure you will have the basics such as:
- Large pot
- Sharp paring knife
- Digital kitchen scale
- Canning supplies: I like this canning set, with glass jars, canning lids, a funnel, and a ladle
- Cheesecloth and a colander, for straining the fruit
- Steam juicer: This is a great tool for making preserves if you have a lot of fruit to process.
Substitutions and recipe variations
You can create different variations of the quince jelly by adding any of the following ingredients:
- Lemon juice: this jelly is pretty sweet, so adding lemon juice will brighten up the flavor.
- Vanilla: You can add a splash of vanilla extract for a different flavor profile
- Cinnamon: By adding this spice, your jelly will taste a little bit more like apple
- Spirits: You can add some rum, orange liqueur, or your favorite spirit.
Related articles:
- Canning without Fear: What you need to know about Botulism
- Why I don’t Water Bath Can
- Weck Jars vs. Mason Jars
How to make quince jelly
Feel free to watch my video tutorial first. The step-by-step instructions for making this recipe are shown just below the video.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Clean, core, and quarter the quince. Use a towel to rub any fuzz or pelt off. *If you’re only interested in making quince jelly, you don’t need to core the fruit.
- Boil in a pot with just enough water to cover the fruit. Cook until the pieces are soft, but not mushy.
- Cool the mixture, then strain through cheesecloth overnight to catch the juice.
- Cook the quince juice with sugar and pectin.
- Perform a gel test to see if the quince jelly is thick enough. Instructions are shown below.
- Pour into sterilized jars and cover with lids.
Helpful Recipe Tips and Notes
- This recipe yields 3 pints (96 tablespoon-sized servings) of quince jelly.
- Before you begin, place a freezer-safe plate into your freezer. It will be used for the gel test.
- Unless you are making quince jam or candy, it isn’t necessary to core the fruit.
To test if the quince jelly is thick enough, perform a gel test:
- Spoon a small amount of the hot jelly mixture onto a plate that’s been chilled in the freezer.
- Return the plate to the freezer for a minute or two to chill the mixture.
- Remove from the freezer and push your finger through the surface of the jelly. If the surface wrinkles, it has reached the gel stage and is ready to be added to jars. If it isn’t thick enough, continue to cook the preserves and test again every few minutes until it passes the test.
Serving Suggestions
Not much is better than a slice of fresh sourdough bread or a sourdough bagel with a spoonful of quince jelly! Here are some other ideas and serving suggestions:
- Stir some quince jelly into yogurt
- Serve it with scones or other cakes
- In Latin countries, people like to eat the quince paste with Manchego cheese (sheep cheese)
- I like to serve the candy squares with sourdough crackers as a sweet appetizer
- Many people like to serve the jam with meat
Quince jelly recipe FAQs
In my experience, you can expect to get about 1 liter (a bit more than one quart) of juice from about 4 medium quince.
If you only get a small amount of strained juice, you can combine it with some apple juice or pear juice and continue with the recipe. Just know that you might have to add extra pectin to get to the setting point.
This recipe uses a lot of sugar, so you might want to decrease the sugar to your taste. Just know that sugar helps with the gelling and also extends the shelf life.
First of all, I recommend performing the wrinkle gel test. Place a small amount of hot quince juice on a chilled saucer. If you push it, it should wrinkle up. If it doesn’t, you can continue to cook it, or add a small amount of additional pectin. Repeat the gel test before canning the jelly.
Yes, I actually love using my steam juicer! It extracts the juice, cooks the fruit, and is particularly helpful if you’re processing a lot of fruit.
Other homemade preserves you might like
Quince Jelly
Ingredients
- 4 medium ripe quince
- 750 g granulated sugar 4½ cups
- 1 liter filtered water 34 ounces
- ¼ tsp citric acid optional
Instructions
- Place a small freezer-safe plate or saucer into your freezer. *This will be used later for a gel test.
- Clean the quince: Rub any fuzz off of the fruit, cut each one into quarters (leave the skins on), then use a sharp paring knife to cut away any black spots or buggy parts.
- Add the fruit pieces to a large pot and add enough water to barely cover the fruit.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook until fruit is soft but not mushy.
- Drain overnight in a cheesecloth-lined colander placed over a large bowl to catch the juice.
- The next day, add 4¼ liquid cups (1 liter) of quince juice and 4½ cups (750g) of sugar into a large pot over high heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then add citric acid, if using. Cook until the juice has turned red passes a gel test. *See Notes if you are unsure how to perform a gel test.
- Transfer the quince jelly to hot sterilized canning jars and cover with the lids.
Notes
- Spoon a small amount of the hot jelly mixture onto a cold plate that’s been chilled in the freezer.
- Return the plate for a minute or two, to chill the mixture.
- Remove from the freezer and push your finger through the surface of the jelly. If the surface wrinkles, it has reached the gel stage and is ready to add to jars. If it isn’t thick enough, continue to cook the preserves and test again every few minutes until it passes the test.
Nutrition
How to make quince paste and quince candy
For this bonus recipe, follow these steps:
- Core and quarter the fruit before cooking it.
- Transfer the drained fruit to a fine mesh strainer.
- Pass the cooked fruit through a fine mesh strainer with the back of a spoon or a big wooden tamper. Alternatively, you can mash the fruit with a potato masher or in a food processor.
- Add the mashed fruit to a large saucepan. Over low heat bring slowly to a boil while constantly stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
- Continue boiling the fruit mass until it turns red.
How to make quince jam:
- Simply transfer the jam to sterilized canning jars.
For quince squares:
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone mat. You can also lightly grease it with a neutral oil.
- Spread the quince paste evenly in a thin layer.
- Let it dry in a warm spot, warm oven, in a food dehydrator, or even at room temperature until it has set.
- Cut into squares or your preferred shapes.
- Transfer the squares to a container or hot jars and keep them in a dark place. They will keep for months!
Pin It For Later
I love my quince tree! I planted it some 15 years ago. I have been searching recipes to find a lower sugar one. My husband is diabetic and I try to watch my sugars too. I did the pectin test from university if Minnesota with 100% alcohol (1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of quince) but I didn’t realize that I wasn’t supposed to cook till it was mushy. I tend to mash it and then I put it through the cheese cloth strainer for a day for my jelly and it turns out fine and then I didn’t realize that you had to put the jelly back in the freezer for the test I thought you just poured it on the plate and then left it on the cold plate and to see if it wrinkled up l! so I’ll try that because I’m definitely over cooking it sometimes. My mother was from Bavaria so I’m excited to read more in your big!
That makes me so happy to hear! Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try and for sharing ~ Anja
About to make the jelly now. How do you store the jelly? How long will it last? Thanks!
If you get a good seal, you can keep the jelly for years in a cool dark place ~ Anja
My neighbor gave me a bunch of quince. I had never heard of it before. They smell amazing! Im making jelly niw. I put mine in a crock pot. Hopefully thats okay. Its what i have at the moment. So im waiting for the juices to strain tjrough. What a pretty color. I sure hope this turns out and sets up. I dont have a candy therm so i guess i will wing it!
The crockpot is perfect for cooking the quince! Happy making ~ Anja
I was given some quince. One yellow good size, about fifteen small green. They all smell delicious. Is it better to make jelly than jam. I have been making jams and jellys for years but this is my first time having quince. Very excited
That depends a bit on what you prefer. Jam is easier to make while the jelly has a more delicate flavor ~ Anja
We were just looking at a homestead last night that we’re considering buying and they sent us home with some of the quince off the trees on the property. Never tried…or heard of them before, pretty excited as they smell amazing
Nice! Now you know what to do with them 🙂 Anja
Very interesting! I have never tried this before! Wondering if I can get my hands on some here where we live. Looks delicious!
You can always request them at your local supermarket ~ Anja
I absolutely LOVE quince! I’ve had it with cheese before and the most recent when we were living in Korea – there was a cute little tea house that served quince tea. It was amazing! But, I never thought about making something with it myself at home. Thanks for sharing this!
Love that you love it ~ Anja
I don’t think I’ve had quince before, but now I want to! The jelly and candy both look so delicious!
Depending on where you live you might have to search a bit to find them. Hope you will succeed and get to make this quince jelly ~ Anja