Poached Quince and Vanilla Egg Custard

The Quince is a traditional and ancient fruit tied to ancient cultures and for me embodies Autumn.

In this recipe I have reduced the sugar and cook them until incredibly fragrant. The colour is pale and beautiful. I also like to cook them longer with a (very) high concentration of sugar to a dark ruby hue. They are incredibly versatile and are also delicious in savoury dishes. Try roasting them whole with a pork roast until they are soft and look to explode through their skin. Better than apple sauce.

To choose your quince look for a powerful, characteristically sweet (and unusual) aroma as a great indicator of full ripeness. They should be shiny and a clear-golden yellow. If skins are still covered with a kind of fur, they are not ready to be picked.

Quinces always feel heavy and hard, but are nowhere near as tough as they seem. Despite the hard skin and rock-solid flesh, quinces are remarkably tender and are easily bruised. So handle with great care.

The fruit are full of bitter tannins to protect them from animal and insect attack. Under the influence of languid heat these tannins or phenolic compounds, along with the amount of added sugar, react with oxygen  to form anthocyans. Anthocyanins create the transformation from something sour, astringent and inedible to a soft, perfumed, buttercup/rose/ruby coloured delight.

Just to explain a little of the science behind the magic. 

Serves 4

• 2 Quince

• 200 gms Castor sugar

• 100 mls Water

• 1 Lemon

• 1 Cinnamon quill  

• 1 Bay leaf

• 2 Star anise

Custard

• 300 ml pouring cream (35% milk fat)

• 300 ml whole cream milk 

• 6 Egg yolks

• 50 gms Castor sugar

• 2 Vanilla beans

Quinces 

1.      Bring the sugar and water to the boil 

2.      Peel the quince and cut in halves (they oxidise very quickly so if you are doing a higher volume place them into a container of cool water to slow this down. There is no reason to acidify the water and waste a lemon.

3.      Remove the seeds with a Parisian scoop (melon baller) or teaspoon

4.      Place a star anise in the centre of each half

5.      Add to the sugar syrup with the zest of the lemon, cinnamon quill and bayleaf

6.    Cook on a low simmer for around two hours with the lid on

7.    We are looking for the quinces to be soft, buttercup yellow and fragrant 

Custard 

1. Put the cream and milk into a small heavy based pan with the sugar 

2. Cut the vanilla beans in half and remove the seeds with a teaspoon

3. Add them to the cream and milk with the split pods

4. Place on a very low heat allowing the vanilla to macerate and release its oils

5. whisk the eggs until pale

6. bring the cream to the boil and pour over the yolks while whisking. 

7. adding the sugar to the cream allows a higher boiling point than normal which should be enough to cook the custard. 

8. It should look thicker and shiny

9. If it doesn’t thicken for you, place your bowl over a simmering pot of water and stir until it thickens (82 celsius)

10. Place the bowl into an ice bathe and stir to cool