How to Cook With Quince

1). Harvest your quince as late as possible in the fall. Quince has a long growing season, so the fruit that begins to grow in April will not be mature until late September or October. When the fruit is ready, it will have completely lost its green color and be a yellowish-brown color. It come off the tree with only the merest tug. Some quince can be eaten right off the tree but most is too tart to really be enjoyable. Fresh quince smells like pears or apples and is firm to the touch.
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A quince in bloom

Make quince paste with some of your quince. This savory paste can be sliced and served with cheese or used as an accompaniment for pork dishes, much as you might use cranberry sauce for poultry. It can also be used on toast or fruit muffins as a spread. Simply core and peel the quince, cook it down with sugar and water until it turns a rosy color, then bake in a slow oven until it is the consistency of a firm apple butter. If you sieve the paste before baking and reduce the remaining liquid, the result will be firmer.
3). Cook up a batch of quince jelly or jam. Use apples or cranberries for pectin or use commercial pectin for a pale, rosy jelly. Add cranberries or pears for a beautiful holiday gift conserve. Use equal quantities of pectin-rich fruits with quince. Amounts of sugar needed varies with the type of fruit you're using.
4). Dress up roasts and holiday dishes with quince. Use paste or fruit with pork roasts and duck. Serve a dish of cranberry quince chutney, made with chopped quince, dried and fresh cranberries, raisins, onions, red pepper, brown sugar, vinegar and seasonings on your holiday table for an old-fashioned savory. Bake quince stuffed with wild rice or mushrooms and nuts as a side dish.
5). Serve quince for dessert. Quince shows off particularly well where its rosy color makes a rich contrast to pastry or a cheesecake filling in a tart. Cook quince with pumpkin, currants, brown sugar and brandy and cover with buttermilk pastry sprinkled with maple syrup and pecans to make a pumpkin-quince cobbler. It can be baked like an apple or stuffed with dried fruits.