Beauport Abbey Quince

Within the sacred grounds of the beautiful 13th century Abbey of Notre-Dame de Beaufort lies a quince tree. It is currently heavily ( heavenly) ladened with swell ripe quince ( Keats would be in his element here on his ode  "To Autumn"!) With steely eyed determination, we quickly filled our bag with windfalls hoping the ghosts of the Premonstratensians monks would forgive our transgressions!





















It is an extraordinary place to visit not just for the Quince so I do recommend you visit if you get the chance. There is also an amazing orchard with over sixty unique varieties of apples and lots more to see. I love the spaces designed to sit and completely relax or pray or meditate whatever takes your fancy! Here is a link to the website for more information:
Beauport Abbey


Quince Jelly Recipe

Quince Jelly is easy to make. You keep the skin on the quince but remove the core with the seeds and any bad bits. Then simply dice and place in a large saucepan with water and boil the quince until soft.

Measure the quince juice. For every 1 litre of juice add 800 grams of (pectin) sugar. Boil up  again mixing the juice regularly to ensure no burning at the base, for a further five minutes. Note the change in colour the more you cook the more red it becomes. The quince we used gave off an amazing perfume smell of roses and honey.

 Strain the water and place the remaining pulp in a muslin cloth over a large container and allow to drain overnight. Next day you may have to gently squeeze the cloth to get as much juice from the cloth as possible.

Place the jelly in a flat tin and allow to set in a fridge for at least 12 hours. It has a full solid texture and exquisite taste.

Quince is traditionally served with cheese and is particularly good with a strong cheese such as Comté, Tomme des Pyrenees's or Cantal.