Quince and walnut frangipane tart

Of all the fruit growing on our small farm, and many friends' farms, it is the quince that is most anticipated. It has the mystique of not being readily available in shops, and depending on the season can be in short supply. Customers in our store initiate discussions about protecting their highly valued quince with individual net bags to ensure their yearly supply of homemade quince paste. My father appreciates a few quinces his way because they are a fruit from his childhood. Another friend has so much yield from his tree that he gave us a trug full of excess fruit. Last summer Duncan diligently installed a tent of insect netting over our quince tree (well, all our fruit trees) to prevent fruit fly damage, and the quinces were perfect! They were peeled, cored and slow roasted in a low oven (150 C) for 4-5 hours, leaving them in the turned off oven overnight before preserving them in glass Fowlers jars. When baking a large quantity of quinces I use Mickey Robinson's syrup ingredients of 1/2 lemon, 440 g caster sugar and 3 litres of water, allowing the flavour of the quince rather than the spices to shine. 

When I come across a recipe using quinces, it's likely I'll pounce on it (see Quince and pistachio cake, and Autumn's golden bounty in baked quinces topping Nadine Ingram's chocolate cake). This was my response when I spotted a recipe for Quince and walnut frangipane tart in the State Library of NSW's Openbook magazine, winter 26. Specialist Librarian in Collection Aquisition and Curation, Mathilde de Hauteclocque, decribes being seduced by quince with its '... floral aroma and the rosy red of its flesh after cooking ...' She says it is difficult to find examples of quinces in the Library's collection of 19th-century European botanical drawings. Her article, A singular fruit, features a quince illustration from Medicinal Plants, by Robert Bentley and Henry Trimen, drawn from a plant in Kew Gardens and published in 1880.

Finding myself with time one Sunday I made Mathilde's Quince and walnut frangipane tart, adapted from Julia Busuttil Nishimura's Plum and Frangipane Tart. I was able to skip the quince poaching step because I already had preserved quinces in the pantry. If you don't have access to quince you can substitute stonefruit or stewed apples or pears. There's novelty in a tart. It's lighter, appears more complicated than a cake, and has a sense of occasion, but it's really quite simple and is sure to delight whoever you share it with.

Quince and walnut frangipane tart

What you need

Poached quinces: 1 L water, 100 g sugar, 75 g honey, 1/2 lemon, roughly sliced, 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, cinnamon stick, star anise or cardamon pods, 3 quinces.

Sweet pastry: 200 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting, pinch of sea salt, 1 tbsp caster sugar, 125 g cold unsalted butter, cubed, 1/2 tbsp white vinegar, 50 ml iced water.

Frangipane: 75 g unsalted butter, softened, 75 g caster sugar, 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract, 40 g almond meal, 40 g freshly ground walnuts, 1 egg, 1 tbsp plain flour.

Extra walnut pieces, 1 egg, demerara sugar.

What you do

For the  poached quinces, mix the water, sugar, honey, lemon and vanilla bean in a large pot and place over a medium-high heat. Add the spices of your choice and bring to a gentle simmer. 

Peel and quarter the quinces and remove the cores. As you prepare each quarter, slip it into the simmering liquid. Cover the fruit and liquid with a large round of parchment paper with a walnut sized hole cut in the centre (forming a cartouche). Very gently simmer the quinces for at least an hour and up to two hours or more, until you can easily pass a paring knife through the flesh. You can poach the quinces a day or two ahead and store them in their poaching liquid in the fridge.

To make the sweet pastry, mix the flour, salt and sugar together in a large bowl. Rub the butter in using your fingertips to make flatter pebbly pieces rather than breadcrumb consistency. Drizzle in the vinegar. Add the iced water a little at a time, to bring the dough together. It should hold together when pressed. Flatten into a disk, wrap in baking paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and sit at room temperature for 10 minutes to make it easier to roll out. Lightly flour a work surface and use a rolling pin to flatten the pastry into a large circle 1.5 mm thick. Drape the pastry over a lightly buttered 28 cm tart tin with a removable base and press gently into the tin's bottom and sides, repairing any cracks. Trip the edge of the pastry casing if there is excess. Refrigerate until needed.

To make the frangipane, place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for about 4 minutes until creamy and pale. Beat through the ground almonds and walnuts, egg and flour until combined.

Spread the frangipane over the pastry, stopping 1 cm from the edge. Slice each quince quarter into 3 or 4 slices and arrange on top, pressing gently into the frangipane filling. Scatter extra walnut pieces among the quince slices.

Whisk the extra egg with 1 teaspoon water, then brush the egg wash over the pastry edge and scatter with demerara sugar. Refrigerate the assembled tart for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190 C. Bake the tart for 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Allow to cool.

(Optional) Simmer the remaining quince poaching liquid over medium heat until reduced to a thick syrup. Cool slightly, then brush over the tart to glaze and serve. Our family enjoyed the quince tart with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

 

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