Whitley Neill Quince Gin 70cl

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A small jump from pears with roquefort: quince and panettone pudding. Photograph: Jonathan Lovekin/Observer Chop up your two clean quinces as small as you can be bothered to do. I removed the small core and the pips. Once they’re all chopped up, add them to your large jar and top up with 30g of sugar. Put the lid on your jar and give it a good shake. The quinces must be thoroughly tender before being removed from the syrup. Remove the quince halves with a draining spoon, reserving a little of the syrup for moistening the fruit as you serve it. Keep the rest, refrigerated, for poaching other fruits. (Lightly perfumed, it will work for both apples and pears.) Set the quinces aside to cool. We have a quince tree in our garden, so most autumns we are blessed with a fairly decent crop of fruit. Most of this goes towards making quince jelly, which is excellent with cheese, but this year I put aside two nice big quinces for ginning with. It’s simple to do, you just need patience. How to make your own Quince Gin You will need:

To sterilise your jars and bottles, put your clean jars in a low oven for at least half an hour. Carefully remove your jars from the oven (they will be incredibly hot) and allow them to cool down a little. Herbs & plants: rosemary, thyme, lavender, mint, elderflowerRemember, the more you use the stronger the flavour. Use around 200-400g of fruit per litre of spirit. The first thing I did was measure how much gin my decorative bottle would take. My bottle would hold 350mls of gin, so allowing for a little bit of wastage during the straining process, and me having a little taste, I measured out 380mls of gin and poured it into a large sterilised jar. Remove the quince from the heat. Spoon the fruit and its cooking syrup into a baking dish approximately 24cm in diameter. Break the panettone into large bite-sized pieces, then push them down into the fruit.

Put the sugar into a saucepan, add 750ml of water and bring to the boil. Peel the quinces then cut them in half from tip to base. Lower the quince halves into the syrup, add the lemon, cut in half then add to the pan. Turn the heat down so the quinces simmer gently. Partially cover with a lid and leave to cook, testing occasionally for tenderness with the point of a skewer. Put the jar to one side, making sure you shake the jar every few days. Leave the quince to sit in the gin for 3-6 weeks. The aroma of Whitley Neill Quince Gin is quite lovely. Lots of quince— its has some hints of Honeycrisp apple, round soft notes of canned Bartlett pear and a spiced juniper note. In other words, it’s immediately recognizable as quince and gin. The quince hails from modern day Iran/Turkey and is said to have a flavor that contains notes of lemon, jasmine flowers, orange blossoms, pineapples, D’anjou pears and even apple (depending on who you ask). In other words, the fact that the fruits flavor defies simple description explains it best— quince is really its own thing. If you’ve had it, you know it. If you haven’t, it’s tough to make a point of reference.

If I had a box of fruits appear on my doorstep, I would certainly have a go at making quince jelly to eat with cheese. And I wouldn’t stop at the firm Spanish cheeses that this slightly gritty amber spread traditionally accompanies. The sweet paste shines with goat’s cheeses and blues alike. I like the idea of making a tiny parcel of blue cheese, wrapping it in pastry and serving it with membrillo, as quince paste is known, on the side.

When the time is up, take your sterilised bottle and using a funnel with some muslin or a coffee filter in it; strain the gin into the bottle. I found that it was best if I strained it twice. Just make sure you replacing the muslin with a new piece after the first straining. If you know what you’re getting into— it’s a really pleasant flavored gin. It’s not a gin with quince, but a quince flavored, sweetened gin. How to store: If your bottles or jars are well sealed, strained correctly and kept in a cool, dark place, your spirits can keep for up to a year. The bottling technique: Add your spirit to a Kilner jar or another sealable container. Make sure your kit is clean and sterile to avoid the spirit going bad. Then add your infusing ingredient and leave it to leach into the spirit. Here's a rough time guide:Leave strong chilli, vanilla, cardamom or citrus for less than a day.Hardy spices and strong-flavoured veg will need five to seven days.Berries and strong fruit can take around three to four weeks to impart as much flavour as possible.Milder ingredients like apple or florals will take up to a month.