Golden Poached Quinces: Blonde Never Means Bland

by Natalie Paull

Quinces usually get pushed to their colour and texture limit – crimson and fall-y apart-y with a jellified syrup. It is a trademark colour for them and absolutely utterly beautiful to eat. But cook a quince less, to golden yellow with a burgeoning blush of palest orange, and the fruit has fresh-flavoured charm with soft acidic notes, similar to fresh poached pears or cooked apple (its pome fruit siblings).
Slip slices into or onto your desserts and cakes, like the (Almost) no-bake cheesecake.
Eat them with cold pure cream. Blonde never means bland.

MAKES just under 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) fruit and syrup 
TAKES 1 hour to prep and cook, then 1 hour to cool

120 g (4¼ oz) mild honey
120 g (4¼ oz) caster (superfine) sugar
1 large citrus fruit – grapefruit, orange or lemon
2 whole cloves or 1 cinnamon stick or ½ vanilla bean, split – or all three
2 medium quinces (800 g/1 lb 12 oz in total)

Prep the quinces Make a poaching syrup by stirring 400 g/ml (14 oz) water, the honey and sugar in a medium saucepan.
Peel two thick slices of citrus peel and add to the pan, along with 100 g/ml (3½ oz) of the citrus juice and the cloves. Cook over low heat, stirring sporadically, for a minute or two until the sugar has dissolved.
Peel and quarter the quinces, and slice out the cores. Slice each quarter lengthways into 5 mm (¼ inch) slices (four or five slices) and place into the hot syrup (see Top Trix 1).
Cook the quinces Bring the quinces to a full boil over high heat. Hold it there for 1 minute, then drop the heat to medium. Press a piece of baking paper onto the quinces and simmer (bubbling steadily) for 15–20 minutes until soft. Cool with the lid off but the baking paper still on.
Keep and store Chill for up to 2 months, then freeze for up to  3 months and thaw.

TOP TRIX

1 Getting the syrup hot and ready for the prepped quinces, and the heat high at the start of poaching, helps prevent oxidisation (browning).

Images and text from Sweet Heart by Natalie Paull, photography by Rochelle Eagle. Murdoch Books RRP $49.99.