Apple and Quince Tart- -10/20/12
I walk my dog Rocky every day and on this beautiful day my neighbor waved for me to come over, and then she gave me a full brown bag filled to the brim with Quince. If you are not familiar with Quince they are originally from Asia, grown for its edible fruit. The fruit is a pear-shaped or apple-shaped (my neighbor is apple shape). Quince are aromatic, sour, and edible only when cooked.
I had an Apple and Quince tart recipe for the longest time and as soon as I got the quince I knew I had to bake them.
This tart combine cubed quince simmered with sugar and butter to develop an earthy fruit flavor and the quince also become very soft, tender, and has a really nice texture. The simmered quince is then used to fill up the tart and then tender apple slices are layer on top a flaky, crispy, savory crust. You can also add a doll up of crème fraîche, or ice cream on top to make it even it richer.
The tart is very tasty, not too sweet with lots of flavor. I also like the crunch and flaky crust.
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If you have leftovers save them and reheat them in the oven for 10 minutes and then served them for breakfast with a hot cup of coffee. YUMMY!
Close look at the tarts.
Preparation work..
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Ingredients
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Prepare the filling: Peel and core the quince, cut the quince into cubes about 1/3 inch pieces.
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Put the cubes quince into a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan set over medium heat. and add 4 tablespoons butter and 12 cup sugar. |
Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring every 3 to 5 minutes. Quince develops a pink color when cooking.
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Uncover, reduce the heat to low and cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the quince is tender and darker in color, about 40 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. |
Roll out the dough with a rolling pin and cut large circle to fit your tart mold. |
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Prepare the apples: Using a mandoline or a very sharp knife, slice the apples as thinly as possible and set aside |
Filled the cooked quince into the shell and distribute it evenly. |
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Layer the apples over the quince around the outermost edge of the tart with about 15 of the apple hanging over the rim of the pan. Each slice should overlap the preceding by half. Once you have made a full circle of apples around the outer edge, make a new circle closer to the center, overlapping the outer circle with about 14 of the apple slice. Continue layering until the quince is completely covered with apples. |
Make a brown butter by melting the remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan set over medium heat, stirring constantly, until golden brown and nutty-smelling.
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Brush the brown butter over the apples |
Sprinkle with the remaining sugar. |
Preheat to 375 degrees about 10 minutes ahead and bake around 1 hour or so. Lower the oven to 350 degrees and bake until the apples have caramelized, the filling is bubbling and the crust is brown, another 20 minutes. Allow the tart to cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack; remove the tart pan. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or crème fraîche.
