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Showing posts with the label Quince

Quince and kahikatea berry tart

The Kahikatea trees in the bush are full of berries, and birds are singing happily. The berries ( koroī)  are edible, but the trees are too high to climb for me, so I can only pick what falls on the forest floor. It takes time, but foraging runs in my veins, plus it is a good squatting exercise! After picking you need to wash the berries well and remove the hard blue seeds, another time consuming job! After all this you are left with an handful of berries so it is easy to understand why you don't see  koroī jam around! In fact there are not many recipes with these berries, and this is my third one only (the other two are  Flan with Kawakawa cream and Kahikatea berries , and  Kahikatea Cupcakes .  The berries don't have much taste so I added one tsp of sugar and a tbsp of lemon juice and I let them marinate overnight. They day after they were yummy and ready to put on cereals, but I preferred  making a tart. I use quinces from Oratia, in season n...

Quince jelly step by step

I love quince jelly, lovely project for rainy days! Wash and quarter some quinces, removing the pips, then boil the lot with lemon juice and a little water until the fruit is soft and mushy.  Put the pulp inside a jelly bag, cheaper if you just use a clean pillowcase (I have one which I use just for jellies) and hung it over a bowl (using a broom and two chairs) for a day and night. This way the juice will drop into the bowl. As a rule if you like a clear jelly do not squeeze the bag! But I confess that I gave it a little squeeze… I wanted to get more out of it! Measure the juice and add the same amount of sugar, then boil again. I had lots, so I put half in a container to set, and added  Fresh As  Raspberry powder to the other half for a quick raspberry jelly. Delicious! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Yogurt with quince topping - yogurt con sciroppo di mele cotogne

A simple dessert or a treat at any time of the day: use some plain thick yogurt, like greek yogurt, or yogurt from  The Collective Dairy . For the topping I cooked some quince apples until mushy, then I put them into a muslin cloth over a bowl for a night to collect the juice. I measured the liquid and added half of its weight in sugar and boiled everything until I got a thick syrup. This can be kept in the fridge for a long time and spooned over the yogurt (or cakes or other desserts) when needed. So yummy! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Crema di nocciola e vaniglia con gelatina di cotogne, fichi e alchechengi - Hazelnut and vanilla verrines with quince jelly, figs and cape gooseberry… or with alpine strawberries

Crema di nocciola e vaniglia con gelatina di cotogne, fichi e alchechengi A few days ago I was in Christchurch where I bought some hazelnut flour ( Hazelz ). I love hazelnuts! For 4 verrines I used: 2 eggs 3 tbps sugar 1 tbsp (level) cornflour 400 ml full cream milk 1 drop real vanilla essence 1 tbsp (heap) hazelnut flour 1 tbsp  Frangelico liquor for the topping 4-8 tbsp quince jelly (see below) figs and cape gooseberries to decorate In a pot mix the eggs with sugar and cornflour and add the milk little by little. Simmer stirring constantly until a custard form, then add the vanilla essence. Pour 200 ml of this custard into a measuring jug (I used the same one I used for the milk) and set aside, then put the hazelnut flour and Frangelico into the remaining custard and stir well. Fill four verrines or glasses with the hazelnut cream (this will be quite thick) and then pour the (thinner) vanilla custard on top. Let it cool down then add the quinc...

How to make Quince Jelly

Living in the bush means that I don't have many fruit trees, but from time to time I am lucky enough to get fruit from friend's trees. One of my favourite has to be quince; it looks so retro and photogenic (ok, I am talking about my dress as well!) and I love quince paste! But this year I decided to make quince jelly, just for a change. Cut the quinces and remove the pips, add the juice of half a lemon and then place into a pot with a little water. Cook until the quinces are a soft mush. Now you will have to place this 'mass' into a jelly bag or cloth (I use a cotton pillowcase which I bought just to make jellies) and hung it overnight over a bowl to collect the juices. Drip drip drip you will collect some lovely red-orange coloured juice, but do not squeeze the bag, or the jelly will become cloudy! Measure the juice and add the same amount in sugar. Bring to boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. Test to see if the jelly is s...

Chocolates with Quince and Chocolates with Hazelnuts.

chocolate! The first chocolates are dairy free, as long as you can find some good quality vegan chocolate. Previously I had made some quince paste (quinces, sugar and lemon juice...sorry, I didn't measure...) and cooled the paste in some chocolate moulds. Then I removed the quince paste (which looked quite pretty even just by itself) and placed it back into the moulds, and then I poured over some dark chocolate, melted at bain- marie. The quince paste must be removed first from the moulds if you like the melted chocolate to run through and fully coat the fruit filling. I was very pleased with the results, maybe they are a bit fiddly to make, but they tasted amazing! And now something much easier!!! I toasted some hazelnuts and peeled them. I made a 'shell' with melted dark chocolate (70%) and put a hazelnut inside. I waited for the chocolate shells to set and then I filled them with a little bit of nutella (or similar chocolate-hazelnut paste, you can even find some vegan ...