The Bygone Babe: Magnolia and Quince

Quince? But it's Spring, I hear you cry! Quince is in season in November .... now is the season of Magnolia's and blossoms, not quince, surely?

But despite being surrounded by blossoms flowering on all of the trees around me there were still quinces sitting in my pink wire cupcake stand. Gorgeous, plump and yellow, I bought them when I went into Borough Market one rainy day in November - when they were in season - and they have patiently perfumed my kitchen for months, only occasionally reprimanding me for not making them into the Membrillo I had fancied when I picked up the three for (gasp) £1.50 each.

I was determined to use them ..... and on one gorgeous March day, when the Magnolia tree in my front garden was in full bloom, I knew the time had come when I noticed one of them was developing a brown spot. The weekend that I had to cook my quinces was here.

Firstly, I cut out the browning part of one of the quince, chopped them into small to medium sized chunks, and then covered them with water and boiled them. I mashed them up as they boiled down, making sure I kept topping them up with water.

They smelt divine.

When they resembled a pulp, I put them into a linen jelly bag and then, as I didn't have a jelly-making stand, I took the gadget free approach of wrapping the muslin around a wooden spoon and then let it drip overnight, squeezing it at intervals to hurry it along.

I was somewhat distracted the next morning by looking out at the gorgeous blossoms and feeling delighted that Spring was finally here. When I woke up the next morning, excited to finish making my Membrillo and go out and enjoy the day, I threw out the pulp and Quince flesh that was in the muslin and then looked at the recipe. I hadn't properly read the recipes that I was flitting between on the internet and realised too late that I would not be making Membrillo after all as that delicious paste had the flesh of the Quinces in it. Ooops!

So my gorgeous Quinces became gorgeous Quince Jelly.

These happy accidents occur, and I added jam sugar, boiled the mixture, occasionally testing for a set by putting a side plate in the freezer and every so often dropping the quince jelly on it, pushing it with a fingertip to see if it wrinkled, and then greedily licking it off.

Finally, my Membrillo turned Quince Jelly was ready to place in the jars that had been prepared in the dishwasher and there they stood, a gleaming orange, ruby, geranium, colour, ready to enjoy at last.