Simplicity

I always get a nostalgic feeling when I see quinces and always end up buying a couple.  So last week, I bought 4 and I baked them in the oven that same night.  I couldn't really decide what to do with them, although I can eat them all with a little bit of custard all by myself, but when I heard that some old friends were coming to dinner on Friday, I decided to make a quince tart tatin.  I already mentioned in another post that I really love apple pie, but my ultimate favourite is a tart tatin.  My brother introduced me to it years ago, when he made it and served it with a caramel ice cream.  I really appreciate food or a recipe where there is "beauty in simplicity", and this is a perfect example: only four ingredients, easy to prepare, beautiful to look at and extremely delicious.

Serves 4 - 6.

4 quinces

150g castor sugar

75g butter

1 packet frozen puff pastry, defrosted

Bake the quinces, leaving the skin on, for 45 minutes at 180 degrees, until completely soft.  Cool.  Peel, quarter and core the quinces and then slice each quarter into three.

Place the sugar and butter in a pan over low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Increase heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes until the sugar caramelises and is a light-golden brown.  Pour the caramel into a cake tin, +/- 25 cm in diameter.  Neatly arrange the quince slices in concentric circles on the caramel.  You can now leave this until later.

While enjoying your main course, preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  If necessary, roll out the puff pastry so that it is large enough to cover the cake tin.  Place the puff pastry over the quinces and tuck in on the sides.  Make two or three holes in the pastry with the tip of a sharp knife.  Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden.  Remove the pan from the oven to cool down, but make sure that you turn the tatin out while it is still warm, otherwise it will stick to the pan. To turn it out, cover the top of the pan with an upturned plate large enough to hold the tart. Quickly and carefully, tip the pan upside down and shake gently if necessary.  Serve with either cream or ice cream.