The fruits of the ornamental Japanese quince Chaenomeles japonica are used in the kitchen in the same way as the fruits of the quince Cydonia oblonga, which was very popular in the past.

They are just as aromatic as the quince, but they are sour. Quince cheese made from real quinces has a long culinary history, the recipe comes from the Roman cookbook by Apicius and is prepared in many countries. We can also make quince jelly and quince cheese from the ornamental Japanese quince. Another ornamental species, the Chinese quince Chaenomeles speciosa, can also be used in the same way.

Like quince, we collect the fruits of the Japanese quince late in the fall, in October and later, and if they survive the frost, it is a benefit. They can even be harvested in January. After harvesting, they are usually left to ripen.

Japanese quince jelly
Japanese quince fruits
per 1 liter of juice 200 to 400 g of sugar
Wash the fruits well and cut into quarters or eighths. Leave the peel and core, including the seeds, all of which are rich in pectin, which we need for jelly and cheese. Cut out only the rotten pieces. Pour water over the chopped quinces so that they are submerged and simmer covered with a lid just long enough for them to soften, no longer. Strain the cooked quinces through muslin or canvas, weigh them down and leave to drain overnight. The juice after draining is slightly astringent, but that doesn't matter at all. The astringent substances precipitate into foam during boiling, the foam must be collected throughout the boiling process so that the jelly remains clear. Measure the drained juice, boil it down to about a third, and add 200 g to 400 g of sugar per 1 liter of the previously measured juice. Continue cooking, constantly collecting the foam. When the juice thickens, we do a jelly test: we drop it onto a cold plate from the refrigerator, and if it does not run and the jelly is formed, it is ready. We pour the hot jelly into glasses.

Japanese quince cheese
soft quince fruits left after making jelly
for 1 kg of puree 1 kg of sugar
For quince cheese, we strain the rest of the quinces after the juice has drained. We add the same amount of sugar as the resulting puree and boil until thick. Spread the puree into a layer about 1 cm high on a greased baking sheet and leave to dry in a warm place for several days or in an oven at a low temperature for several hours (about 400C). Once the mass is dry enough to be peeled off without tearing, we turn it over and let it dry on the other side as well. Then we cut it into cubes, let them dry on the sides and store in a closed jar. It can be used as a candy, with dried cranberries, pieces of plums and apricots or with raisins as a sweet snack and cut into small pieces into sweet pastries as raisins.