Sunday, May 6, 2012

Autumn bounty....

We have a lovely 4 year old espaliered quince tree that over the years delivers an equally lovely bounty of quinces each May. After a bit of a rocky start, and after a bit of advice, Joe has been using some fertiliser that we bought from the grower which whilst hasn't produced too much extra fruit, has produced mega sized fruit! So in preparation for Mothers Day dessert next week, I set about picking 8 of these magnificent yellow orbs which easily filled my large Le Crueset casserole, and prepared them for poaching. I use Stephanie Alexander's recipe. After 6 hours on low in a light sugar syrup, lemon and vanilla, these beauties turn into ruby coloured gems. Not to mention the divine smell that swims around the house for hours. It amazes me that such tough old fashioned fruit turns into such delicious, highly sought after produce! Stay tuned for next week's installment!

4 comments:

  1. wow - I know nothing about quince, as am intrigued by what I am seeing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. We left ours on the tree too long....only about 3 fruit but not salvageable so no quince paste here this year......

    ReplyDelete
  3. How ironic! Hubby just found a quince tree in the gardening catalogue and asked if I might want one for Mother's day! Every year I get aflowering something so now after all these years I have a lovely collection of lilacs, weigela, mock orange and butterfly bushes! ( my sons dig the hole - thus they like to say that the give me a hole for Mother's Day)

    ReplyDelete
  4. You know how jealous I am of this tree - Two year quince- no espalier and no fruit ....sigh .. maybe Joe' s up for hire a hubby to fertiliser and prime my poor tree

    ReplyDelete