Poached Cardamom Quince
Quince is one of my favourite fruits and I’m only new to cooking it myself. I had this idea that it was a labour and time intensive fruit to work with and avoided dealing with it for a long time.
Quince fruits in Autumn and Winter, depending on the weather, and has an astringent, very tart taste and a sort of woody apple texture. My friends have a tree at the end of their street, on public property, and when I was last there I had not yet overcome my fear of cooking them. It was laden with fruit and although the birds had gotten to them, there were plenty to go around for humans and animals alike.
One of the things that I find the most special about quince is the way that the colour changes from a very pale yellow to a rosy pink hue as it cooks, it’s magic.
Ingredients:
2-3 quince
6-8 cardamom pods
1/2 cup of sugar
500ml water
1 lemon
optional:
star anise
cloves
vanilla pod
Quince is one of my favourite fruits and I’m only new to cooking it myself. I had this idea that it was a labour and time intensive fruit to work with and avoided dealing with it for a long time.
Quince fruits in Autumn and Winter, depending on the weather, and has an astringent, very tart taste and a sort of woody apple texture. My friends have a tree at the end of their street, on public property, and when I was last there I had not yet overcome my fear of cooking them. It was laden with fruit and although the birds had gotten to them, there were plenty to go around for humans and animals alike.
One of the things that I find the most special about quince is the way that the colour changes from a very pale yellow to a rosy pink hue as it cooks, it’s magic.
Ingredients:
2-3 quince
6-8 cardamom pods
1/2 cup of sugar
500ml water
1 lemon
optional:
star anise
cloves
vanilla pod

Method:
Peel and core your quinces and cut into ‘orange segment’ sized wedges. Don’t throw away the peels and cores.
In a small/medium saucepan, combine your water and sugar and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent the sugar from burning on the bottom.
Add in your quince, it’s cores and peel and cardamom pods.
Peel your lemon zest into the pot and then squeeze in all its juice. Give it a little stir.
Cut a round of baking paper and sit it over the top of the liquid, like a lid trapping in all of the steam.
Turn the heat to the lowest possible and cook for 1.5 hours. Checking after 1 hour to make sure the quinces aren’t over cooking. You don’t want to turn them completely to mush.
Once cooked, pull the edible pieces of quince out with a slotted spoon and set aside, drain the liquid through a sieve or colander into a bowl, removing all peel, cores, cardamom pods and lemon rind.
Keep the quince in the liquid in the fridge for 1-2 weeks, using on porridge or with muesli for breakfasts. Otherwise, it’s very delicious with desserts. In cakes, slices or with a simple scoop of vanilla ice cream. Personally, I love to have them with fior di latte, mint and tarragon, as pictured.