Fall has not crept up on us. I’ve been smelling it and seeing it when I’m outside. But experiencing the first snow a couple of weekends ago, seeing it cling to the leaves that had not yet fallen, make it feel real.
I’m now ready for warming dishes. There will be more soups, root vegetables and spices on the menu. I’ll be cooking with pumpkins, apples, parsnips and quince.
A colleague brought me a huge bag of quince. Take them all, she said. I’ve picked so many and the tree is still full! To prolong their life, I’ve been storing them in the cellar and whenever I go down to get something, their delicate, sweet and yet heady scent greets me. This beautiful and voluptuous fruit is one I have only relatively recently added to my cooking repertoire. It’s not a fruit I grew up with, but one I’ve embraced. I use it most often in baking, but last weekend I put my new found love of canning to use and made a quince and apple chutney which turned out delicious.
Today I’d like to share a recipe for quince cake. It takes a bit of time since quince need to be cooked before they can be eaten and this can take a long time. So, I’ve poached the fruit in maple syrup before adding it to the cake.
Quince Cake
- 4 smallish quince, peeled and diced
- 2 Tbs water
- 3 Tbs maple syrup
- a piece of butter
- 3 eggs
- 150 g sugar
- 100 g butter, melted and cooled
- 150 g flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1 pinch of ground cloves
- 1 pinch of ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Place the quince with the water, maple syrup and butter in a skillet and cook over medium heat until the quince is soft, about 30 minutes. Let cool while preparing the cake batter.
Mix the eggs with the sugar until light. Add the melted butter and mix. Mix in the flour along with the spices. Carefully stir in the quince and spread into a round baking pan. Bake at 150°C for about 45 min. until a tester comes out clean.
