Baked Quinces with Orange and Honey

Serves 6

Ingredients

160 ml (⅔ cup) fresh orange juice
240 ml (1 cup) water
150g (½ cup) honey
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise or 5 cloves or a vanilla bean split in half
6 tablespoons brandy or sweet red wine or Cointreau
1 kg quince
1 lemon cut in wedges

The photos in this recipe are of a double batch.

Summary

Quinces are magic. They’re pretty confounding when raw, but totally transform with gentle cooking and care. Here, we pair their pear-y flavour with orange, honey and whole spices – plus a dollop of labneh and nuts to top it off. This recipe needs intermittent attention, so it’s perfect for a weekend when you’re staying in on the sofa. This recipe is by Fotini.

Baked Quinces with Orange and Honey
GF

For the syrup
Heat water, orange juice, honey and whole spices in a saucepan for a minute or two until the honey dissolves. Remove from the heat, stir in the brandy and set aside.

For the quince
Rinse the fruit and rub their skin with a dish sponge to remove any fuzz.

Preheat oven to 180°C (fan forced)

Cut the fruit in half and then scoop the centre creating a well. Using a small spoon, remove the seeds and the very tough part of the flesh. You will need to use some strength here!

Rub the flesh of the quince using a lemon wedge to prevent oxidisation.

Place the prepared quince facing down, in a baking dish. There shouldn’t be any big spaces left in the dish.

Pour the honey syrup over the quinces.

Cover the pan with a lid or foil.

Bake in the upper third of the oven for 1 hour.

Uncover the fruit and drop the oven’s temperature to 170°C (fan forced)

Add back in the oven this time in the lower third of the oven.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the fruit gets some colour.

Flip the fruit carefully using a spatula or two spoons. Bake for another 20 minutes.

Take out of the oven and spoon some of the syrup on top of the fruit.

Continue this process, baking and basting, until the fruit is totally soft and peachy orange/red and the syrup is thick – ours took about another hour.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. The quinces and the sauce will thicken as it cools, so if you’re wanting to make this ahead, reheat in a 170°C degree oven with a lid until the sauce has loosened and the quince are more supple before serving.

To Serve
Serve warm, with a dollop of thick cream, vanilla ice cream, yoghurt or labneh*, sprinkled with chopped roasted walnuts/almonds/pistachios and some cinnamon caster sugar.

Simply divine.

*You can easily make labneh yourself, just line a sieve with cheese cloth and strain 250g yoghurt with a pinch of salt for a minimum of 4 hours.