Thursday 25 April 2013

Lovely Quince Cake

 Today we had a lovely morning tea catch-up with some friends on their lifestyle block. They have an amazing and lovely array of fruit trees, and a fabulous outlook on the country side. Weighed down with feijoas and quinces, and a huge and impressive pumpkin, we headed back to the city dreaming of all the possible recipes to make.


While the man of the house can take or leave them, Little Miss 4 and I love feijoas. We have already eaten several, raw of course, so I turned my attention to the quinces. This humble and, some might say, old fashioned fruit is traditionally made into jelly. It's a very firm fruit that requires long slow cooking. Straight from the tree they are covered in a fine furry coating. If your planning to eat the flesh of the fruit, then its a good idea to peel off the tough skin and roast the fruit with sugar and a little water. 

Given the quinces really firm density, I thought it might try baking them in a cake. I considered using the feijoas, but given their high moisture content I decided that more thought needed to be given to their cake formulation. With friends coming for tea, and the need for speed, I pulled out my trusty Carrot Cake recipe and simply substituted the quince for the carrot.

Quince Cake

2 cups caster sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups oil - I used rice bran oil

Beat the eggs and sugar until light, fluffy and doubled in volume. Fold in the oil.






Add 3 cups of washed, peeled and grated quince flesh and 3/4 cup of sultanas.
Sift together: 2 heaped cups of plain flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon mixed spice and 1 teaspoon salt.








Gently fold the flour mixture into the wet mixture and place into a lined cake tin. The cake will rise a bit so make sure their is enough room for expansion.
Bake for 40 minutes at 180deg. C until a cake tester comes out clean.







I was worried the quince would be too fibrous, but it turned out really well. The quince added tartness to the cake, which mixed with the spices and sultanas was delicious. 

I served the cake with Deep South Rum and Raisin ice cream and raspberry puree made from heating frozen raspberries and a little icing sugar.

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