She decided to turn the fruit into medlar cheese and jelly without using any jam sugar or liquid pectin. “And I found out I could do it,” she says.

Jane Steward's medlar jelly and medlar fruit cheese. (Image: Archant) It's fair to say autumn's medlars aren't the most attractive of fruits. Compared, say, to a plump blackberry, its drupelets a ...

Ripe medlars can be eaten fresh or made into jelly, chutney, cheese, fudge, liqueur or pie. Ripe medlar pulp can be gently folded into lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Or medlar liqueur, following food writer Jane Grigson’s recipe, using the ripe fruit soaked in sugar syrup mixed with brandy. Or even chocolate-coloured medlar cheese ...

A medlar is a fruit that requires "bletting" to become edible. It means that once ripe, medlars are left to decay and ferment before being used in the kitchen - usually to make a jelly or "cheese".

So much for my English degree. I came across medlars, or Mespilus germanica, at the farmers’ market this week, a fruit that was new to me but very familiar to Shakespeare, Thomas Middleton ...

Medlars are a hardy fruit that look like a cross between a small apple and a rosehip. When ripe, they’re hard and green. They’re picked at this stage, but aren’t edible until they’ve ...