A Recipe for Quince Pies
The door to the kitchen stands open. A basket of quinces, freshly picked, sits on the windowsill, and the scent of warming spices drifts from the stove...
For our Autumn 24 fragrance, we imagined an old kitchen warmed with the scent of quince, both freshly picked and cooking.
We enlisted photographer and cook Aimee Twigger to create a quince recipe for us - and cook it for us as the centrepiece of our seasonal film, Quince Kitchen.
Keep reading for the recipe to make your very own quince pie.
For the poached quince:
- 4 quinces
- 275g caster sugar
- Juice of one lemon and 4 strips of peel
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 star anise
- 5 cardamom pods
- Vanilla bean
For the pastry:
- 440g plain flour
- 220g cold unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs + 1 beaten, set aside
- 1 tbsp water as needed
- Wash, peel and cut the quinces in half.
- Add the quinces to a pan and add enough water to cover them, approximately 1 litre. Add the sugar, lemon juice and lemon peel. Bash the cardamon pods and add them in, along with the other spices. Stir to dissolve the sugar over a medium high heat and bring to a simmer.
- Place a circle of baking paper with a hole cut in the centre on top. Turn the heat down and gently poach at a low/medium heat for 1.5 – 3 hours, or until the quinces are tender and pink — the amount of time needed will depend on the ripeness and size of the quinces.
- Mix the flour, sugar and salt together. Cut the butter into small cubes and rub it into the flour until it resembles a fine crumb. Add the eggs and mix them in.
- Add around 1 tablespoon of water, gradually increasing the amount added until it makes a soft dough. Depending on the size of the eggs and the brand of your flour you may need to add more, so judge it and add as much as needed until the mixture comes together into a soft dough.
- Press the dough into a large flat disk and cover in plastic wrap and chill.
- Remove the cores of the quinces with a spoon.
- Cut the dough into four.
- Roll out one portion of the dough and place one of the quince halves on top to one side, cut side down.
- Cut around the quince, leaving a small lip around the edge.
- Brush around the edge with a beaten egg, then cut a larger piece of pastry to cover the top. Drape the pastry over gently without stretching it, and press it around the quince. Cut around the edge leaving a small lip of pastry. Turn the quince over and gently tuck the lip underneath so you can’t see it.
- Make some leaves by rolling out some more pastry and cutting it with a knife or a cookie cutter. Then make a stem and attach it. My tip to shape the leaves in a way that they don’t fall flat in the oven is to roll up small balls of dough and add them underneath the leaf.
- Cover and chill on a lined tray in the fridge for least 30 minutes to rest.
- Repeat with the rest of the quince halves.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Brush the pies with beaten egg and poke some small air holes around the edge. Sprinkle over demerara sugar and bake for 35 minutes or until golden.
- Serve with warm caramel sauce and ice cream. You can use store bought caramel sauce and heat it in a pan, or make your own.
Photography by Aimee Twigger and Ros Atkinson. Recipe by Aimee Twigger.
Autumn 24 launches on the equinox, 22nd September 2024.
It captures the scent of a Provençal quince steeped in saffron and warm spices.
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