Using our preserves

One of the things that we tried to consider when preserving the summer bounty from the garden was how the end product would be used - no point making a whole lot of something if it just sat in the cupboard.

This post is just to comment on some of the hits and misses.

• The dried plums and pears were a big hit, we have run out of both and will definitely do more next season
• The various jams (cherry plum, berry, crabapple) are all delicious and while we don't eat a lot of jam ourselves, they have been easy to give away. Plus having yummy jam means that I have been forced to try scone making and revisit pikelets (both being good jam and cream vehicles)
• In comparison, the plum sauce, while very tasty has been languishing

The large quantity of quince paste sitting in the bottom of the fridge had been bugging me until recently. You can eat the paste with cheese or use it as a glaze, but we weren't really getting through it.  Then I was flicking through a recently acquired cookbook (I like Heidi's blog a lot so thought I would buy her book) when a recipe for membrillo cake caught my eye. The cake uses 225g of paste - a bit of an extravagance if you are paying Maggie Beer for her paste, but ideal for me with our glut in the fridge.

The cake turned out quite well.

I didn't have the recommended size tin and used a smaller one which resulted in a thicker cake so the edge was a bit overdone and dry before the middle was cooked. Also, the cubes of paste in the cake were not very evenly distributed (I was worried they would break up when I mixed it) so some pieces of cake had lots while others were lacking. Overall it was still pretty yummy - I think I will have to make it again with a few tweaks (maybe some yoghurt in the mix and definitely a shallower profile).  The recipe is available online here.