Orange Mango Pâté de Fruit

I guess I'm on a jelly candy kick again! I had some orange mango puree and decided this would be a bright and shiny thing to make in the midst of this dreary winter weather. They are tangy and tropical and the texture is meltingly smooth. My only question is this: is there any way to get jellies to not sweat? I keep them in the fridge separated with parchment paper and still you have to re-dip them in sugar when you want to offer them as a little gift. What I really want to learn how to do is to make a much harder jelly candy. These are gorgeous and I think the texture, for what they are, is perfect. Ah, well. Patience, Grasshopper.

I adapted my recipe from Georgia Pellegrini's recipe for quince pâté de fruits. Mine's sort of ghetto.

3 cups of puree

1/2 cup light corn syrup

4 tablespoons of lemon juice

2/3 cup of sugar

1 packet of "no sugar needed" pectin

Put puree, syrup, juice and sugar in a pan and bring to simmer. Whisk in pectin. Bring to 227 degrees. Pour into a oiled pan lined with parchment paper. Let sit for a few hours. Dredge in super fine sugar.

FYI, I'm not sure if I brought the temperature up to 227. The mixture was boiling furiously and the temperature on the thermometer read 200 degrees. That's just not right. So that's why last week's caramels turned into a rock!! I sort of suspected. I ditched the thermometer and let the liquid boil for about ten minutes, until it was sheeting thickly. I'm sort of peeved at that freaking thermometer, a basic Taylor candy/oil dealie. I mean, you think you're all safe when you have a thermometer but nooooo! Just goes to show that you really can rely on your intuition and knowledge. I always forget that. Ah, yes, Grasshopper.

Membrillo and Quince Squares

I finally did it! The last five pounds of quince have been utilized, and I fulfilled my latest obsession of quince paste. I have made quince jelly already, but for some reason membrillo had me a little wary. Every recipe I read had warnings of long periods of time stirring bubbly goo. But I so desired it. How can you not get obsessed over quince fruit, when every time you read about it the author is prompted to go into detail of its illustrious history, its connection to Nostradamus, its heavenly perfume, its ancient mystery. Don't look at me for one of these of well-researched and beautifully written treatises, because you will certainly not find it. But I can direct you to Kevin West's Saving the Seasons (Parts I, II and III) because not only did I mostly follow his recipe for membrillo, but he really lays down the quince law. What I think is most beautiful about his recipe is that he bakes it in the oven at a low temperature, thus taking the fuss work out of it. I let it sit in the oven over the course of a day, forgetting about it, not caring for it, and it came out beautifully.

4 cups of quince puree (from five pounds of quince simmered for an hour, juice reserved for future jelly)

4 cups of sugar

2 tbsp of lemon juice

I chose not to use any aromatics or spices, because I wanted to taste it on its own, but I know next time I will use any of the great recipes I saw, like a plain vanilla bean, or cinnamon and nutmeg, or a more savory style with bay leaves and thyme. They all sound great.

After blending the ingredients in a pot on the stove top until all the sugar dissolved, I poured that mixture into a 13 x 9 pan that was oiled, covered in parchment paper, which was then oiled. (I wasn't taking any chances.) I realized a few hours in that moving to a larger, shallower pan would help, so I did just that. After about five hours (at 225 degrees) I turned off the oven and let it sit over night. The next day I flipped the whole thing (carefully!) and let it sit for another day. This morning I divvied the business up. My bars of membrillo aren't quite as brick-like as many I've seen, both in size and hue, but they are nice little candy bars, and that's just fine for me.

I'm also obsessed with jelly candies, and on reading a book review of a local history of the Dutch settlers gustatory habits, I was piqued by quince squares, a sweet treat back in the early 1700s. I got the book out, but no recipe there! So I just cut up half of the quince paste and dipped them in sugar. I'm sure it's the same exact thing. Aren't they pretty?

Later on we'll have some membrillo with cheese and bread. Isn't it a great little loaf? I love that Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. It's really great to have on hand. Especially when you live in the land of not so good bread. I keep the larger portion in the fridge, which they say makes eight loaves, but no so for this bread eater. I'd say it's more like four loaves.

N.B. You might also want to check out Put Up or Shut Up's Quince Paste using the microwave. Joy of Cooking also has a version of that. Cuts the time up, if you don't have it.

Niagara Grape Jelly

The other day I was at the orchard around the block and couldn't resist this little quart of Niagara grapes. Niagara grapes are a sweet native grape, of the species Vitus labrusca and you can read more about them here. They always remind me of those Japanese Muscat Kasugai gummies. My dream is to one day recreate them so I can eat them all the time. This morning I got that much closer.

The grapes smelled heavenly but the diesel-y note in them was sort of strong. They were also small and the pits in them large and many, so I decided I'd do a quick jelly. I cooked them for ten minutes and mashed them gently so the seeds would release from the flesh. Then I put them in a sieve to drain over night. The juice was a weird cloudy green. Didn't look promising. I had about a cup. I added a cup of sugar and put it on to boil, in a small pot with no thermometer. I was experimenting. It seemed the jelling point was reached very quickly because it foamed up right away. I'm known to be impatient and jump the gun on the jelling point. But by about fifteen minutes, I knew I had to pull it off the heat. I poured the thick syrup into a jar. By the time I got it onto my greek yogurt and topped it with crystallized ginger, it was the consistency of thick honey. Now that it's in the fridge it's pretty much the consistency of taffy. Not that I won't eat it! The diesel-y note is gone entirely and what's distilled in the sugar is that sweet, perfumed scent of fresh native grapes off the vine.

Apple Cider Jellies

I was really worried that these wouldn't come out nicely, but I was wrong! What a great simple recipe, but I'm afraid that I like them a little more firm. I think I will have to start delving into pectin use. I used gelatin for these.


Very simply, I heated 1 1/2 cups of cider and 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 Tbsp. of lemon juice to boiling and let it boil furiously for ten minutes. Meanwhile, the gelatin softened in a 1/2 cup of cider. After the ten minutes, I added the gelatin mixture to the boiling cider mixture. Cooked for another five minutes. You could tell it was firming up. I poured it into an oiled 8x8 inch pan and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Unmolded it carefully, cut it with an oiled knife, and tossed in superfine sugar. Thassit, mes amis.