Fall

Quilted Quince: a Pie in 3 Layers

by:
September 14, 2010
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0 Ratings
  • Serves 6-8
Author Notes

Ever since reading about quinces in Jane Grigson's book "Good Food", when I was 16, I have been fascinated with them. It is only in the past 15 years that I have found quinces to work with and I have tried all kinds of recipes. This one is based on a tart recipe from "Bread and Chocolate" by Fran Gage. —luvcookbooks

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Quince Slices
  • 8 small quinces (use 6 if large)
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • The Quilted Quince Pie
  • 1 recipe puff pastry, or you can buy puff pastry (Dufour's is the best brand I have found)
  • 1 recipe Sliced Quinces
  • 1 egg yolk, beaten
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
Directions
  1. Quince Slices
  2. Preheat the oven to 325. Try to core the quinces. It isn't easy and you will be upset if your knives are not well sharpened. Be careful not to hurt yourself. Also, do not be tempted to sample the fruit. It is astringent and unappealing, as well as being rock hard.
  3. Bring the sugar and water to a boil in and oven proof casserole dish. Add the quinces, bring to a boil, then cover the pan and place in the oven. Bake 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The quinces will smell heavenly and turn a beautiful cornelian color. You will feel better about step one.
  4. Cool the quinces and slice thinly. Reserve the cooking syrup. You can try a slice of quince and a teaspoon of syrup now.
  1. The Quilted Quince Pie
  2. Preheat oven to 400. Adjust rack to middle of oven. Line 2 large cookie sheets or pizza pans with parchment paper. Roll out two nine inch (more or less) circles of puff pastry very thinly, about 1/8 inch. Transfer carefully to baking sheets.Chill the circles in the refrigerator until firm, about 30 minutes.
  3. Prick the pastry all over with the tines of a fork. Brush one of the circles with the egg yolk and sprinkle with sugar. Arrange the thin slices of quince on the circle in a single concentric layer. Carefully brush the fruit with the quince cooking syrup.
  4. Cover the quince layer with the second circle of pastry. Brush the top layer of pastry with egg wash, if desired, and sprinkle with a coarse sugar. Cut slits carefully in the top circle.
  5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the top is brown and the bottom is cooked. Unfortunately if will be very hard to tell if the bottom is cooked completely. If you are not sure, put foil over the top and bake a little longer.
  6. Cool slightly. Serve with strong coffee. It will be beautiful and delicious.
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4 Reviews

luvcookbooks
luvcookbooks October 19, 2010
Martha Stewart Living this month features a similar recipe: Refined Slab Pie.
 
Sagegreen
Sagegreen September 14, 2010
Lovely!!!
 
luvcookbooks
luvcookbooks September 14, 2010
I love quince paste, too. I even made quince baby food for my daughter. I think I should try steaming them and then coring them or some such. I'll let you know how it turns out, thanks for the idea!
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames September 14, 2010
I adore quinces (am still waiting for them here, however) but generally use them to make quince paste, because of the problem you noted about prepping them when raw. (I cook them, then pass them through a chinois.) Have you ever tried cooking them and then coring them? Perhaps you could cook them just enough to soften the skin and flesh enough to core more easily -- though I realize that their size contributes to the difficulty -- and then cook them the rest of the way? ;o)