Quinces are definitely an unusual and underrated fruit. Until I moved to Spain I had never even seen one let alone tasted one. The Spanish love the quince and make an exceedingly sweet paste/jelly called Dulce de Membrillo that is delicious served with Manchego cheese. It’s a classic tapa.
They look like a big yellow, gnarly apple and have a kind of peach fluff on the skin when they are on the tree. The flavour and texture are similar to an apple but it has a delicate floral perfume. They are in season here at the moment so I wanted to make something gorgeous with them to showcase their delicious flavour.
Prep time: 1hr 20 mins Cooking Time: 25-35 mins
- 550 ml (2 1/2 cups) water
- 225 gr sugar
- 1/2 lemon, cut into wedges
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large quince, peeled cored and cut into 16 wedges
Put the sugar and water in a small saucepan over a medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon wedges, squeezing a bit of juice into the pan too, vanilla and quince slices, stirring to combine.
Bring to a simmer and cook gently until the quince are soft and fork tender but not mushy. About 10-20 minutes depending how ripe your quince is.
Set aside and leave to cool in the syrup until you are ready to use them.
For the sweet pastry:
for 3 x 4 inch tartlets
- 165 gr (3/4 cup) flour (I used half plain half spelt flour)
- 4 tbsp icing/confectioners sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 65 gr (4 1/2 tbsp), cold, cubed butter
- 1 small egg yolk, save the white for later
Combine the flour, sugar & salt in the bowl of a processor and pulse. Add the cold butter and pulse again until the butter is the size of small peas. Then add the yolk and pulse until the mixture starts to clump a bit.
Lightly butter and flour your tart tins and gently press the dough into them, as evenly as possible over the bottom and up the sides. Freeze the tart shells for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180 C. Prick the bases of the tarts with a fork and bake until they are lightly golden. Up to 10 minutes (more for a large tart). Leave to cool on a rack while you make the frangipane.
For the Frangipane:
- 45 gr (3 tbsp) soft butter
- 75 gr (1/3 cup) sugar
- 40 gr ( 1/3 cup) ground almonds
- 1 egg white (saved from above)
- 1 tsp flour
- 1/2 tsp cornflour/cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- pinch salt
In the bowl of a processor, pulse the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the almonds and blend, then add the flours, then the egg white, then the extracts and salt. Pulse until just combined.
To assemble:
Preheat oven to 180 C. Divide the frangipane between the cooled tart shells, it should come up just below the edge. Take the quince slices out of the syrup and dry on kitchen paper. Arrange them prettily fan-like on top of the frangipane. You may have some quince leftover.
Place the tartlets in the oven and bake until the frangipane is golden and set 25-35 minutes (longer for a large tart). Leave to cool on a rack and dust with icing sugar just before serving.
Serve with vanilla ice cream and flaked almonds.
