Quince & Custard Cake - the recipe! (UPDATED)**

Just in time for the weekend quince harvest...

Items you will need:

CUSTARD

2 tablespoons custard powder

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 cup milk

20 g butter

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

CAKE

200 g butter

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup raw sugar

2 eggs

2 cups SR flour
1 teaspoon ground cardamom/cardamon

½ cup buttermilk

about 4 small (or 2 large) pot-roasted** quinces* (I already had these on hand)

20 g extra butter, melted

2 teaspoons caster sugar

½ teaspoon ground cardamom/cardamon
pistachios, chopped not too finely

1. Make custard.
Combine custard powder & sugar in a small saucepan and gradually stir in the milk. Make sure there are no lumps of undissolved powder. Stir over low heat until mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat, stir in butter and essence. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool.

2. Make cake.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line a 20-22cm round springform pan. Beat butter and brown and raw sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition. Stir in sifted flour, cardamom/cardamon and buttermilk in two batches.

3. Assemble cake.
Whisk cooled custard until smooth. Spread half the cake mixture into the tin. Top with the custard (start in the middle and no need to go right to the edge). Then spread remaining cake mixture over custard, starting on the outside and working your way to the middle.

Remove the skin from the quinces and slice them, then overlap them decoratively all over the top of the cake. Remember they will spread a bit as the cake rises. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with extra sugar and cardamom/cardamon and, lastly, the pistachios.

4. Bake cake.
For about an hour and 15 minutes. Stand in tin for at least 5 minutes.

5. Eat cake.
Let it cool enough so the custard sets to make it easy to cut. We don't know what this cake is like cold because it was eaten all up while it was still warm ...

Thanks again to the cake-maker extraordinaire for:
a) making the cake; and b) setting the recipe free.

Enjoy!

* This cake actually started life as an Apple and Custard Cake, so if you don't have quinces on hand, just slice 2 large apples finely and overlap on the top, and use cinnamon instead of cardamom/cardamon.

** UPDATE: We have had some enquiries about how one transforms the simple quince into the pot-roasted quince. We consulted the cake-maker extraordinaire and here, for your pot-roasting pleasure, is the answer.

Pot-roasted quince (serves 8)

Ingredients
8 (about 320g each) small quinces or 4 large
5 cups (1.25L) water
2 cups (220g) sugar (some people add more sugar to make the liquid into a sweet syrup)
2 cinnamon sticks (you can also add orange rind, or lemon rind, or a vanilla bean or all of these if you want)

Method
1. Wash quinces to remove any fuzz from skins. Stand quinces, in a single layer, in a large, wide saucepan. Add the water, sugar and cinnamon. (Quinces will not be completely covered with water.)

2. Place pan over very low heat. Simmer for 4-5 hours, carefully turning quinces occasionally so they cook evenly (take care not to break quinces). Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely.

3. Transfer quinces and cooking liquid to a large airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. They freeze very well too.

So, get thee to a large, wide saucepan...