Quinces grow perfectly happily in the UK, but we just don’t seem to eat them. So, I’ve decided they need some of my PR services – I want to show you how to cook them. Introducing: my poached quince.
A quince looks a bit like a pear, but the flesh is much harder, and you really need to cook it to be able to eat it.
I like to poach mine slowly in the oven, submerged in a sugar syrup with bay leaves, ginger and lemon. It takes a few hours, but there’s very little for you to do in that time. The quince becomes soft while still holding its shape, and the syrup takes on all those lovely floral, honeyed flavours.
Then there’s the colour. This is the bit that always feels like magic. The quinces start off a rather unremarkable pale beige and slowly turn a deep ruby red as they cook. There’s no red wine or food colouring involved – it’s a completely natural change caused by the tannins in the fruit breaking down.
Quince tastes more floral and slightly tarter than an apple or pear, and once cooked it has a lovely almost jelly-like texture. You could eat the poached quince with yoghurt or ice cream, but I like it best with warm vanilla rice pudding. The creamy rice and sharp, fragrant fruit make a very good combination – particularly once the weather starts to cool down.
BAY POACHED QUINCE, VANILLA RICE PUDDING
A gorgeous way to eat this gorgeous fruit.
Ingredients
- 600 g caster sugar
- 2 bay leaves
- thumb-sized piece ginger roughly sliced
- 1 lemon
- 1 kg quinces
for the rice pudding
- 175 g pudding rice
- 1 L whole milk
- 150 ml double cream
- 80 g caster sugar
- 1 vanilla pod sliced lengthways
- pinch of salt
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 140℃ (fan-assisted).
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Start by poaching the quinces. Combine the sugar, bay leaves, ginger and 1L of water in large ovenproof pan. Squeeze in the juice from your lemon, then chuck the carcass in, too. Set the pan over a medium heat and bring it to a simmer, stirring regularly until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat.
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Meanwhile, you can prepare the quinces. Peel them (keep the skins), chop them into quarters and remove the core (make sure you properly remove all core, as it doesn’t soften with the poaching and it ruins their texture. Trust, I've been there…).
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Add the prepared quinces into the sugar syrup, then tie up the peelings in a little muslin cloth and add that in too. Cut a piece of parchment paper the same diameter as the pan and lay that on top of everything, to help keep the quinces below the water (this is called a cartouche!). Clamp on the lid, then bake for 4-5 hours, or until the quinces are soft all the way through, but still definitely holding their shape. Switch off the oven, but leave the pan in there until the quinces, and their liquid, have cooled completely. Transfer into an airtight container, and keep refrigerated.
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When your quinces are all lovely and poached, you can make the rice pudding. Start by washing the rice really, really well under cold water – 5 minutes or so. Don’t skip this step. It will prevent the pudding from becoming too starchy.
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Combine the washed rice, milk, cream, sugar, vanilla pod and a little pinch of salt in a saucepan and give everything a good stir. Set the pan over a low-medium heat and bring to a very gentle simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, for 30-40 minutes, until the rice is just about cooked (if you overcook it here, it will turn mushy, which none of us want!).
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Serve the rice pudding warm in cute little bowls, piled high with the poached quinces and drizzled with a little of the poaching liquid.
I loveeee a pudding. Find more recipes here.
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