My friend Julia brought me some quinces and pomegranates from her dad's garden in Prince Albert and, having never cooked with quinces before, I was unsure of what to do with them. Last night I was invited for dinner at a friends house and so, decided I would bring dessert. I thought an easy, autumn tart would do the trick, that way I would make the best out of both the pomegranates and the quinces. It turned out really well and I would definitely make it again. If you don't have quinces, they can easily be substituted with pears or peaches for this dessert.
For the base
1 packet of tennis biscuits
50g of butter or margarine, plus some
extra
Blitz the biscuits in a food processor
and add the melted butter (add extra depending on consistency). For a
gluten-free/dairy-free version, use gluten-free biscuits and
margarine.
Press the biscuit mixture into the base
of `spring-form tin, lined with baking parchment. Put in the freezer
to set while poaching the quinces.
For the poached quinces
2 large quinces, peeled, cored and
sliced into half-moon segments
1 cup sugar
3 cups water
2 vanilla pods, snapped in half
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
Place all ingredients in a pot,
dissolve sugar and poach quinces over medium-high heat for 30-40
minutes. Remove quinces with a slotted spoon. Allow liquid to reduce
further.
Place poached quinces onto tart,
covering the surface in a pattern, if you like. Place in the fridge
while preparing the pomegranate syrup.
Pomegranate syrup
Juice of 2 large pomegranates (about
2/3 of a cup), reserving some seeds for garnishing.
1/3 a cup of sugar
Dissolve the sugar in the pomegranate
juice, boil over medium-high heat until reduced, swirling the pan
occasionally until a syrup forms. Watch carefully as it won't take
too long. Set aside.
Fetch the tart from the fridge, drizzle
pomegranate syrup over the quince tart. Place back into fridge.
Remove the vanilla pods and zest from
the reduced quince liquid and give it a fast boil to allow the
texture to thicken and become syrup like. Mix any remaining
pomegranate syrup in the quince syrup and set aside. Chill the tart
for a further hour. The quince syrup will become almost jam-like in
consistency.
Serve the tart scattered with
pomegranate seeds and a spoonful of quince 'jam' on top and a scoop
of ice-cream for something extra.
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