Recipe: Quince & Rosemary tarte tatin

Move over apples

This recipe is part of the Kitchen Projects QUINCE INDEX, a curated selection of recipes that celebrate quince. For more quince-piration, from pickles to cakes, stews to jams, jellies to tarts, click here to learn more

Quince & Rosemary Tarte tatin

Tarte tatin is the easiest but most impressive looking dessert. People think you’re mad if you suddenly whip out a TT, but seriously, it couldn’t be easier! But you don’t have to tell anyone that - take all the credit.

The quanities below are for a 6inch pan which would be good for two to share. To increase the size, I’d probably triple, or even quadruple this recipe for my classic cast iron. You might need to increase the cooking time slightly.

Either way, the key here is not to get the caramel too dark early on so take your time making the initial caramel and aim for light golden - by the time it’s finished cooking, it will be a perfect deep bronze.

You could also make this tart tatin with your ready cooked poached quinces - if you do this, reduce the pan cooking time to 5 minutes as the quince are already soft enough.

Ingredients

• 40g caster sugar

• 10g unsalted butter

• 2g rosemary sprigs, needles only

• 15g walnuts, optional

• ½ tsp lemon juice (a squeeze)

• 1-2g flaky salt (a pinch)

• 1 x medium quince, about 300g

• ¼ recipe rough puff pastry (about 85g)

Method

• Peel, core, and slice quince into 1-2cm thick pieces.

• Place a 6-inch cast iron pan on medium heat. Add caster sugar bit by bit to make a dry caramel. Avoid going too dark at this stage - you want pale golden. You can add the butter when there’s still a few grains of sugar undissolved. Add butter along with the sprigs of rosemary and a pinch of flaky salt. You can also add chopped walnuts here, if desired

  

• Arrange quince slices in in the pan, thick side down. Cook quince on medium heat for 10-15 minutes with a lid (or a piece of parchment paper to help them steam) until slightly softened - you should be able to pierce with a knife easily.

• While quince cooks, preheat the oven to 180c fan.

• Roll out the pastry thinly, about 0.25cm. Once quince is tender, drape the pastry over it. Tuck edges inside the pan. Cut a small slit on the pastry.

  

• Place pan in preheated oven, and bake for 18 minutes, or until golden.

• Allow the tart to cool for 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate. Serve warm, optionally with ice cream or whipped cream.