Flaherty Wines

Quince is an old-fashioned fruit that I rarely saw when I lived in the U.S., but it is very popular here in Chile. It is often eaten raw (I truly cannot imagine why)—to the extent that raw quince was on the orthodontist’s list of prohibited foods when Ben got his braces recently. It is also cooked and pureed into a juice or made into dulce de membrillo, a sweet paste that pairs really well with manchego cheese.

We have a couple of quince trees in our orchard, and they also line the road to our house. So every year about this time I start looking around for quince recipes. This year I found a recipe on Epicureous that turned out to be delicious. I don’t normally reprint recipes, but I love this cake! I’ve made a few adjustments, most notably brushing the poaching syrup over the cake, which accentuates the honey character (though not excessively). (I also cut back the cinnamon in the syrup, added a bit of baking powder, and dropped an egg yolk.) Note that the recipe calls for a pound of quince, or about two medium fruit. Since I used garden quince, I had to cut away the wormy parts (like apples, quince are susceptible to cotton moth, so they aren’t pretty if grown organically). I used the better part of four quince, which gave me about three cups of raw sliced quince and about one and a quarter cups of cooked quince to add to the cake.

Honey quince cake

For the poaching liquid:

2 to 4 quince
2 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

For the cake:

1  3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
125 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1  1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk

Core, peel, and slice the quince. (Quince are very hard, so it’s easiest to work with if you cut the fruit into eighths, rather than quarters.) In a medium sauce pan, combine the rest of the ingredients for the poaching liquid and bring to a simmer, stirring to combine. Add the quince and simmer until very soft, about 45 minutes to an hour. Drain the quince, reserving the liquid (you should have about a cup or so). Roughly mash the quince with a fork or potato masher and set aside. Note: the quince can be made ahead and refrigerated.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a standard 9-inch cake pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Add the vanilla. Beat in about half the flour until just mixed, followed by all of the milk. (Note: the Epicurious recipe calls for heavy cream, but I used whole milk and the cake was perfect.) Add in the remaining flour. Do not overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for about an hour and fifteen minutes, until the cake is golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before turning out onto the rack. Poke the bottom of the cake all over with a bamboo skewer, then brush about a third of the poaching liquid over the cake. Turn the cake over onto a second rack. Poke the top all over with the skewer, then brush the remaining liquid over the top and sides of the cake. Let the cake cool completely before serving.