If you have a tree bearing the old-fashioned quinces, don’t let them go to waste — it is a wonderful fruit that is ideal for poaching, stewing, or baking as a dessert as well as being ideal for use in jams, jellies and preserves because of its high pectin content.  I love to combine them with Apples and this is one of my favourite recipes – the perfumed quince puree and hazelnut crumble really make this apple tart special:

Apple, and quince tart with a hazelnut crumble topping (serves 4)

Allow approximately 1.5 hours

Ingredients

For the tart

  • 30g unsalted butter
  • 2 Quince, peeled, cored and chopped
  • 3-4 tbsp caster sugar
  • 230g pre-rolled puff pastry
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 apples, cored and thinly sliced (Cox’s orBraeburnswork well)
  • Honey to drizzle
  • 30g unsalted butter, melted

For the hazelnut crumble

  • 100g Self Raising flour
  • 50g butter
  • 50g sugar
  • 50g chopped hazelnuts

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6.
  2. Melt the butter in a pan, add the chopped quinces and cook over a gentle heat for 8-10 minutes. Stir in half the sugar and a splash of water and cook for a further 4-5 minutes, until softened.
  3. Remove from the heat and puree using a hand blender until smooth.
  4. Grease a baking tray and trim the puff pastry so that it fits onto the tray. Using a pastry brush, brush over the egg yolk and prick all over with a knife.
  5. Spread the quince puree over the pastry and arrange the apple in vertical lines on top. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle the remaining 1-2 tablespoons of caster sugar over the top.
  6. Make the crumble by rubbing the butter and flour together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Stir in the sugar and nuts and sprinkle mixture over the tart.
  7. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
  8. Remove the tart from the oven, cut into 4 servings and drizzle with a little melted butter.
  9. Serve with CrèmeFraîche, cream or custard according to preference!

Enjoy!

In Season this Month:

Fruits & Nuts
Apples, Apricot, Aubergine, Blackberries, Blackcurrants, Blueberries, Loganberries, Peaches, Plums, Raspberries, Redcurrants, Strawberries, White currants, Cobnuts, Hazelnuts, Quince

Vegetables & Herbs
Artichokes, Aubergines, Beetroot, Broccoli, Cabbages, Carrots, Cauliflower, Chard, Courgettes, Cucumber, Fennel, French Beans, Garlic, Kohlrabi, Lamb’s Lettuce, Onions, Pak Choi, Peas (inc. Sugar Snaps) Potatoes, Radishes, Rocket, Runner Beans, Salsify, Scorzonera, Samphire, Sorrel, Spinach, Sweetcorn, Tomatoes, Watercress

Meat & Game
Lamb, Rabbit, Venison, Wood Pigeon 

Fish & Shellfish
Black Bream, Crab (brown, hen & Spider), Signal Crayfish, Grey Mullet, Lobster, Mackerel, Pollack, Prawns, Scallops, Sea Bass, Squid, Trout (river – brown and rainbow)

Going out of season
Blackberries, Blueberries, Cherry, Mange tout, Peach, Redcurrant, Strawberries (many of these towards the month).

www.suzannejames.co.uk

Suzanne is a professional chef, wife and mother who has lived in South East London all her life.

This article first appeared in the September 2019 issue of SE22 magazine.