Quince paste with ginger

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1 ½ kg quince(s)
• 625 g sugar
• 250 ml water
• 2 lemon(s), the juice
• 100 g ginger
• Ground almonds or nuts, coconut flakes or powdered sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 6 hours; Total time approx. 6 hours 40 minutes

deliciously sweet/spicy and soothing during cold season

Remove the fluff from the quinces with a cloth, wash them, quarter them unpeeled, remove the seeds, cut them into smaller pieces, and simmer them in the water with the lid closed until soft. This takes about 15 minutes. Check occasionally to see if there is enough water to prevent burning and add more if necessary. The amount is small so that the subsequent thickening takes less time and energy. Then add the peeled and finely chopped ginger and puree everything. Then add the sugar and lemon juice and simmer, stirring constantly, until it thickens until a wooden spoon leaves a trace on the bottom of the pan. (approx. 15-20 minutes) Now pour the hot mixture onto two lightly oiled baking sheets and spread it as evenly as possible. Place both sheets in the oven at 50°C fan with the door slightly ajar (wedging a wooden spoon between them) for several hours. Once the surface is thoroughly dry, you can turn the quince paste layer over to allow the underside to dry better. Once everything is thoroughly dry (touch it! and the appearance will change slightly from cloudy/milky to more transparent), cut the quince paste into small squares, roll them in chopped nuts/almonds/desiccated coconut or powdered sugar, and store them in a sealable container at room temperature using wax paper to separate the layers. (I use empty plastic ice packs with lids.) As long as the quince paste was really dry, it will keep for months and always tastes delicious. The spiciness of the ginger makes it our go-to remedy for the first signs of a cold. You can vary the amount of sugar as well as the proportion of ginger: more sugar is definitely fine for those with a sweet tooth (up to a ratio of 1:1 sugar/quince), but we also like it at a ratio of 1:3 sugar/quince. The amount of sugar is not so important for shelf life, since the quince paste is dried. The amount of ginger added depends on personal preference and the spiciness of the ginger used.