This fruit is better than apples, but 99% of people have never tried it.
Meet the Quince - it looks like a large pear, smells like heaven, but here's the thing.
You can't eat it raw (or most people don't).
It's rock hard and bitter.
But when you poach it magic happens. The quince transforms into these jewel-like beauties that taste like vanilla, guava and even roses. Below is:
Part 1 recipe I use to poach our Smyrna quinces. This can be done the day before making your tart.
Part 2 takes to you baking the Quince Tarte Tatin.
Part 1: Poached Quinces
I use our Smyrna quinces, that's all I know and I'm told they are the best for cooking.
Give them a good rub before peeling to get the the fluff from the outside. I tend to cook up a big batch- this is your base recipe. Once the quinces are poached you can eat them with cereal, make a quince crumble, sun dry them for the perfect platter dish (or to save you time we have our award winning Sun Dried Smyrna Quince available online) and/or make recipes like Quince Tarte Tatin. This recipe is for 2 kgs of raw peeled/seeded quince so makes a couple of containers worth. You can of course half the recipe if you want to make smaller quantities.
Ingredients
2 kgs peeled, seeded/de-cored raw Smyrna quince. Kept the seedy core I add some of the cores back into the poaching pot to help deepen the colour of the quince.
2 kgs white sugar
3 whole vanilla beans, sliced into half
Method
1. Slice the quinces (already de-fluffed, peeled and de-corded) into 1/8 pieces. Do be careful de-coring and cutting the quince they can be very hard to cut through so watch your hands.
2. Place the quince pieces into a large saucepan (as an indication for 2 kg of quinces I used a large 10 L saucepan to allow for the sugar and filling with water so it doesn't over flow whilst boiling/simmering). I also included some of the quince seed cores to the pan- these help increase the pectin levels and with the colour change of the fruit.
3. Pour the sugar right over the top of the fruit and add the split vanilla bean pieces.
4. Pour cold water over the quince fruit/sugar mix until the fruit is covered with water.
5. Bring the water to a simmer and then cover the water with the some baking paper (called a cartouche) to reduce the evaporation of the water and then seal your pan either with its lid or foil. Lower the temperature slightly to keep it a simmer (you don't want it to boil over and/or boil dry).
6. You can cook also cook in the oven. For my latest version of the Quince Tarte Tatin featured here I cooked on the stove top. The heaviness of your pan makes a difference, I use my noni 10 L pan (not sponsored), the conductivity is brilliant and certainly quickens the cook time. The length of time cooking depends on how you like your quince poached. Using the noni pan it took 2 1/2 hours to reach a very deep almost caramelised quince. This is personal preference, you don't need to cook it this far, but also depending on your vessel, it may take long to cook to reach a deep colour. Keep checking along the way.
7. When finished you are left with a big batch of quince that will last in the fridge for various preparations such as your breakfast granola each day or the tarte tatin below.
8. Keep the poaching liquid, this will be quite thick. Its delicious as is but I use it in the base of your tart below.
9. Discard the vanilla beans and seed core pieces of the quince, their job is beautifully done now.
Part 2: Quince Fig Tarte Tatin
Ingredients
Approx 3/4 cup of your thickened quince poaching liquid/jelly. This is to personal taste here you can add more.
Approx 3- 4 cups of your cooled poached quince pieces. This is approximate and does depend how high you want to make your tart. I found going 2 layers thick of cooked quince pieces worked well.
3-4 White Smyrna semi sun dried figs sliced thinly
3 tablespoon of Sticky Quince Syrup
unsalted butter to crease the sides of your pan
1 sheet (375g packet) Carême Spelt or All Butter Puff Pastry, defrosted (or what you can buy locally or bake)
Method
1. Preheat oven to 190°C (fan-forced).
2. In a 22cm cast iron or heavy stainless steel frying pan, spoon the quince jelly in an even layer over the base. On medium heat, cook to quince jelly until it melts and bubbles alittle then take on the heat to cool slightly.
3. Once the frying pan with the quince poaching syrup in it has cooled, rub a thin smear of butter on the inside edge of the pan. This will help release the tart after cooking.
4. Place the poached quince pieces in the pan, cut side up. I did two layers of quince, you want the quinces to be packed as tightly as possible and a good height/depth in your pan.
5. Insert the pieces of cut dried figs into any gaps between the quince. These add a beautiful contrasting flavour and texture to the sweet quince.
6. Unroll your pastry sheet and cut a circle slightly larger than your pan. Place the pastry on top of the poached quince, then using the back of a spoon orf your fingers, tuck the pastry into the edges of the pan to hug the fruit (this will form the sides and base of your tart once cooked and flipped). If you are feeling confident try making undulations in the pastry as they look fantastic when you flip the tart over.
7. Score and put small holes in the pastry a few times to allow the steam to escape while cooking. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and crisp on top.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. Use a knife to go around the edge of the pastry to make sure nothing is sticking to the sides of the pan.
9. Place a large plate on top of the pastry. Get yourself setup and quickly flip the pan and plate over (using oven mitts to hold the pan as it will be hot). Wiggle the pan until you can feel everything free and then lift it off.
10. Slice and serve warm with greek yoghurt.
This is super rich and the tartness of the yoghurt balances it perfectly.
Serves 10 people.
We will be demonstrating this cook and talking about our Heward family orchard on Lets Eat with George early in May 2026.
