One of the most anticipated harvests in our garden, right up there with the first asparagus crop, is the quince. These fuzzy yellow fruits have a fabulously perfumed aroma and taste, once cooked, as good as they smell. Small wonder that they were once sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. And if you fall out with your beloved you can always use them as missiles, because when they’re raw they are rock hard.
They’re used to make quince paste, or membrillo and they pair very well with lamb or game when made into a jelly. They are very good in a pie or crumble but I’ve used them here with apples, another happy marriage, in a rather more refined tart. It’s the quintessential autumn dessert.
Quince and Apple Tart
Ingredients:
4-5 quinces, depending on size
2-4 eating apples, depending on size
The juice of 1/2 lemon
About 3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 sheet ready-rolled shortcrust pastry
1 tbsp butter, diced
Apricot jam, to glaze
Method:
Wash the fluff off the quinces then p
eel, core and slice them. Put them in a pan with about 2 tbsp sugar and a splash of water. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the quinces have broken down into a purée.
Taste and add more sugar if necessary and allow to cool. You can put them through a food mill at this point if you want them to be super-smooth but I like a bit of texture.
Lightly grease a six-portion flan tin with a removable base. Mine is 35 x 12 cm. Line it with the pastry, leaving the edges high to allow for shrinkage, and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7. Peel, core and thinly slice the apples and put them in a bowl with the lemon juice to stop them going brown.
Fill the tart case with the quince purée and arrange the apple slices in overlapping rows on top. Trim the edges of the pastry, sprinkle the top with more sugar and dot with butter, then bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Now turn the oven down to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6 and bake for a further 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is light brown and the apples have caramelised.
Remove and allow to cool slightly before removing the tart from the tin. Warm the apricot jam with a tablespoon of water, sieve, and brush over the tart. Serve warm or cold, with cream, crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream.
… and Minnie came too
Hopefully my girlfriend still has some quinces on her tree to share. I looked at all your quince recipes and they look wonderful.
Thank you, Gerlinde, I’m so pleased you like them. Yes, definitely chat up your friend! They are a delicious fruit.
I can’t let you away with it. Mentioning Aphrodite, marriage and a refined tart all in the one paragraph tells me where you are going.
Lovely tart btw.
C
I wonder if that makes it an aphrodisiac?
It makes it really interesting to read!
Delightful, must go hunting for quince. I always forget that there is quince to come after the first flush of apple season has passed. A lovely tart to nudge one into the right direction, Linda.
N xx
Thanks, Nicole. I could cheerfully eat this every day for a week. 🙂
Me, too.
How pretty! I’ve never had a Quince, what do they taste like??
Thank you, Mani. That’s actually quite a hard question to answer as they have a unique flavour. I’ve seen them described as somewhere between an apple and a pear but I don’t think that really describes them. Raw, they’re are horrible, sour and grainy. Cooked, they have a perfumed, aromatic flavour. I think they’re delicious – give them a try if you can find some. Linda.
Neat! I’ll have to go on the hunt for them