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.
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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