Paste · No. 05 · Sold as a block
Quince paste for cheese boards that slices instead of smearing.
Five hours in a wide pan, cooked past the jam stage until it sets firm enough to cut into triangles. Handed over wrapped in paper, not spooned into a jar. From $14 per 8 oz block, cooked to order in a three-person Austin kitchen.
From $14 per 8 oz block
Cut on the board, straight from the wrap. Amber at the edge, darker at the centre.
Quince goes in pale and comes out brick red.
Quince is hard, astringent and inedible raw. Heat and sugar are the only way in. The colour change is the clock you cook against.
We peel and quarter it, then cook the fruit down with a little water until it collapses. The flesh starts yellow-white, like a hard pear. Within twenty minutes it turns pink. By the two hour mark it is salmon, and somewhere past four hours it settles into a deep amber that no food dye gets close to.
Then the sugar goes in and the stirring starts. This is the part people underestimate. The pan has to be wide and the spatula has to reach the corners, or the bottom scorches while the middle is still loose. Thicker paste spits. We wear sleeves.
There is no pectin from a box in any of our paste. Quince brings its own, and in a fruit this high in it the set comes quickly once the water is gone. The finish test is a cold plate, same as the jams: a dab that holds a firm peak when you drag a finger through it. Then it goes into a lined tray to set overnight.
No pectin from a box. Apricots and quince bring their own.
- Fruit
- Quince, peeled, quartered and cored, cooked soft then reduced
- Sugar to fruit
- About 1 : 4 by weight, plus the fruit's own pectin
- Set
- Firm. Slices clean at room temperature
- Cook time
- About 5 hours, then overnight to set
- Pack
- Wrapped block, 8 oz, 16 oz, 2 lb and 5 lb
- Price basis
- From $14 per 8 oz block. Larger blocks by inquiry
- Handover
- Pickup in Austin, or Austin delivery at a flat $8 per order
An estimate, not a quote. We confirm the price by phone or email before anything is made.
How to cut a block without dragging it apart.
Cut it cold, serve it warm
Cold paste cuts clean. Warm paste tears. Take the block out of the fridge, unwrap it, and cut it while it is still firm. A thin blade helps more than a sharp one here. Wipe the blade between cuts and the slices come off with square sides instead of a raggedy edge.
Once cut, let the slices sit for fifteen or twenty minutes. At room temperature the paste softens just enough to bend slightly, which is what you want when it is laid against a piece of cheese. Straight from cold it tastes flatter and duller.
Storing what you do not use
Unopened, a wrapped block keeps for months in a cupboard. Air is the enemy, not heat. Once cut, press the cut face back together, wrap it tightly, and keep it in the fridge. A block that dries out at the edge can be trimmed with a knife and the rest is fine.
Do not freeze it. The sugar and pectin structure breaks, and what thaws is a sticky lump that will not slice again. If you bought too much, buy a smaller block next time instead.
Cheese that argues with it, not cheese that agrees.
Sweet paste next to sweet cheese is a wasted plate. Pick something salty, sheepy or blue and let the two pull against each other.
Manchego
The standard pairing, and it is standard for a reason. Cut the paste into triangles the same thickness as the cheese and layer them. A few marcona almonds, nothing else.
Aged cheddar or Gouda
The salt crystals in a well-aged cheddar cut straight through the sugar. Put a small slice on the plate rather than a big one; a little goes a long way.
Blue cheese
Paste with a crumbly blue is a loud plate and it works. Serve the paste in thin slivers and let people build their own bites. Ours is sweet enough to carry the funk.
Roast pork and lamb
Warm a slice in the pan juices at the end of roasting and let it melt into the gravy. Also good cold, cut thin, alongside a pork sandwich.
Blocks, and what each one covers.
Bands are per unit before quantity breaks. Six or more units take 8% off, 24 or more 14%, 72 or more 20%. Catering and restaurant orders usually land in the 24 and up band, so ask for the block size you actually need rather than stacking small ones.
Questions we get about the paste.
Does it need to be refrigerated?
Unopened, no. The wrapped block keeps in a cupboard for months. Once you cut into it, keep the rest wrapped in the fridge and bring it back to room temperature before you serve it.
Why a block and not a jar?
Because it is cooked past the jam stage until it sets firm. A block gives you a clean slice next to cheese. In a jar the same recipe turns into a sticky spoon job and you lose the whole point of it.
Is it very sweet?
Sweet, yes, because paste cannot set without sugar. Less sweet than most quince paste sold in tins. About one part sugar to four parts quince by weight, so the fruit's tart edge survives.
Can I use it in baking?
Cut into small cubes it holds in a scone or a tart without bleeding. For a filled pastry you will get a cleaner result with the apricot lekvar or the plum lekvar, which are made for that job.
Is there a season for it?
No. Quince keeps well and holds in cold storage, so we cook it through the year. The peach preserves are the seasonal one, made only while the Hill Country fruit lasts.
Ask for a block size and a date.
Tell us how many blocks and when you need them. One of the three of us replies by phone or email to confirm what is set and ready, and when you can collect it. Nothing is charged online.
68 Oak Lane, Office 12Austin, Texas 86853