Pudding Baking

Quince and Cobnut Crumble

A quince is a pome fruit similar to an apple or a pear. Ripe quinces have hard flesh, but a delicious taste and fragrance. We love this recipe for crumble made with oven roasted quince and a seasonal cobnut topping!

15 minutes prep, 1 hour 30 minutes cook

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

For the filling:

3 large quince

125g caster sugar

2 bay leaves

½ stick of cinnamon

1 bramley apple

For the crumble:

200g good butter

300g plain flour

A good handful of rolled oats

150g light brown sugar

75g shelled, broken cobnuts

Method

Peel the quince and cut each of them into eight pieces. Remove the cores and put the wedges in an oven-ready dish that just fits them. Scatter over the caster sugar, bay leaves and cinnamon and 250ml water. Cover with tin foil and bake for 1 hour at 170°C/Fan 150°C.

Meanwhile, make the topping. Rub the butter and flour together between your hands until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the oats, light brown sugar and cobnuts and mix well.

After the hour is up, remove the tin foil from the dish (be careful of the steam). Peel and grate the bramley apple and stir into the quince.

Sprinkle the crumble onto the fruit and bake at 190°C/Fan 170°C for 20-25 mins until the top has browned and the mixture has cooked.

Allow to rest for 10 mins or so, as the sticky fruity juices are red hot and have a habit of burning the roof of your mouth, as I have found out all too often in my haste for a spoonful! Eat with a big dollop of very thick cream or your favourite custard – or hey, why not both?