What to do with more quinces…another visit to Orange Grove Markets and the quinces looked too good to resist. I have a few jars of quince marmalade in the cupboard from earlier in the season, so poaching the quinces seemed an obvious alternative. Add a toasted crumble mix and some cream (sour cream in this instance for some tartness) and the deconstruction was complete.
The quinces are poached in butter as well as sugar which creates a wonderful ruby red quince caramel. The recipe is based on Stephanie Alexander’s recipe Oven-roasted Pears and Quinces:
Caramelised Poached Quinces
Ingredients
80 gms butter
2 quinces
150 grams caster sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
Vanilla bean
Method
Preheat oven to 150 degrees C. Melt butter in a baking dish that will contain the quinces snugly.
Wash and peel the quinces, halve lengthways and remove cores. Cut in quarters if you want smaller wedges.
Roll in the melted butter. Turn fruit so it is cut-side down in the baking dish and scatter over sugar. Squeeze the lemon juice over the fruit and place the vanilla bean (split) in the dish. Cover tightly with a doubled sheet of foil and bake for 2 hours.
Turn the quinces and baste with buttery sugar pan juices. Re-cover and bake the quinces for another hour until they are soft and a deep red ruby colour.
Macadamia Crumble
Ingredients
100 gms plain flour
75 gms butter at room temperature
Pinch of salt
50 gms dark brown sugar
25 gms golden syrup
50 gms rolled oats
20 gms chopped macadamias
Method
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Place the flour, butter, salt and sugar into a bowl, and rub the butter into the other ingredients until the mixture forms coarse breadcrumbs.
Place mixture into the bowl of a food processor, add golden syrup, oats and chopped macadamias, and pulse gently to combine.
Turn out the crumble mixture onto the lined baking tray, spread the mixture evenly and bake the crumble for 15-20 minutes, stirring once during the cooking time, until the crumble is toasted.
Remove from oven, and when cool, break up any large pieces. It’s important to have a combination of small and large crumble pieces.
Assembling the Deconstruction
Place on a plate a few wedges of caramelised quince, a handful of crumble and a spoonful of sour cream, and drizzle with the quince caramel.
The Quirk and the Cool 