Spiced Quince Upside-Down Cake

This was definitely a George’s Marvellous Medicine cake; sweet, spiced, syrupy and squidgy, made during a dizzy turn without really looking at any of the ingredients. That is where genius lies- I’ll have to stop paying attention more often! Feeling up for the challenge of cooking with a strangely antiquated ingredient that was nevertheless new to me, I’d bought a couple of quinces before Christmas from a farm shop up on the moors. They had to wait patiently for their turn though, as lumpy onlookers to our festivities from their vantage point by the fruit bowl. When it’s "buffet season" I’m not going to faff about poaching anything other than an egg. The reason everything turned into a cake was simple; Daddy. I want everyone to enjoy dessert, so having him silently eat a spiced, poached quince wasn’t something I was looking forward to (he’d even pointed out earlier that the smell of cloves reminded him of the dentist). So a thirty-second cake batter was whipped up, spooned on top and with fingers crossed it got pushed into the oven. I’ve never even eaten a quince before but with the right preparation they’re absolutely delicious. If you see any that are still lurking around in the shops, really do try this; they’re like pears but amazingly perfumed and fragrant.

Serves 8

Ingredients:

To prepare the quinces:

2 Quince

1 cup granulated sugar

2 ½ cups water

1 tbsp lemon juice

6 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick (See this as a guideline; use your favourite mulling spices. We’re not fans of star anise, that’s all.)

1 tbsp rosewater

The first thing you have to do is poach the quinces; start by peeling each quince and cut them in half, scooping out the brittle core with a melon baller. Reserve the peels and the cores; this is what helps them turn red when they cook apparently! Or it’s something to do with pectin. Feel the inside cavity with your fingers, making sure it feels smooth, not lumpy because the core isn’t very nice to chomp down on. Rub the quinces with a slice of lemon to stop them turning brown and put the four halves in a pan that’s big enough for them to sit snugly next to each other, without overlapping. Scatter over the reserved cores and peels before pouring over the sugar, water, lemon juice, spices and rosewater. Bring slowly to a boil then reduce the heat to a nice simmer. Cook for two hours, turning the quince over after one hour. They should turn a light sunset red; I know they can go even darker but I chickened out and stopped when they reached the firmness of a canned pear. Leave to cool and obviously don’t chuck away the spiced sugar syrup; keep some for the cake but use the rest in cocktails.

Ingredients for the Cake:

100g softened butter

50g light muscavado sugar

50g caster sugar

2 eggs

75g ground almonds

75g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ eating apple, grated

1 tsp cinnamon

Method:

1)      Preheat the oven, 180˚ and prepare a 23cm cake tin (mine’s about 5cm deep) by greasing and then flouring.

2)      Slice the poached quinces lengthways (approx. 4 slices from each half) and arrange them in a pleasing decorative star shape. Spoon over a few tablespoons of the spiced syrup- just enough to cover the base of the tin, not enough to swamp.

3)      Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, and then one by one beat in the eggs.

4)      Stir in the ground almonds before folding in the flour and baking powder.

5)      Finally stir in the grated apple and cinnamon.

6)      Dollop this batter over the quince slices before baking middle shelf for 40-50 minutes, or until the cake’s edges are firm to touch. Cover with foil halfway through if necessary.

Run a knife around the edge of the tin before bravely flipping the cake onto a plate. Serve warm with pistachio ice cream, spooning over a little more of that syrup if it takes your fancy.