Slow-Cooked Quince, Broken Meringue & Sweet Mukhwas (Slow Cooker)
This recipe is based on a dessert I had in Paris at restaurant Chateaubriand. We had stood in line for hours waiting for a table. Dinner started at close to midnight and we were the last to make it in. We finished eating at three in the morning and, to this day, it is one of the most memorable meals I have had. One of the courses was a single beautiful, lightly charred plum, its cooked flesh covered in mukhwas (Indian candied fennel seeds). I’ve never forgotten it – it was so simple, yet so complex, and I have offered a slightly different spin on it here.
Ingredients 11
1 cinnamon stick
1⁄2 tsp green cardamom seeds, lightly crushed
2 star anise
1⁄2 tbsp vanilla bean paste
375 g caster sugar (superfine sugar)
1 l water
3 quinces, large, peeled (reserve the peels), cored and cut into large chunks (keep as close to quarters and halves as you can to ensure they hold their shape)
To Serve Optional
20 g meringue, broken into shards
2 tbsp sweet mukhwas, (indian candied fennel seeds)
185 ml crème fraîche
Squeeze lemon juice
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Method 4
Put the , , and in the bowl of your slow cooker. Add the , and the reserved quince peels and set to the sauté function.
Cook until the has dissolved. Add the and turn the heat to low, then cover and cook for 10–12 hours. The quince is ready when the poaching liquid looks a little syrupy and the quince is a glorious ruby pink colour.
Gently remove the and place on serving plates. Strain the cooking liquid and reserve it for another use, such as making quince jelly.
Scatter over the broken and the just as you serve. Dollop each serve with a generous dessertspoon or so of and a squeeze of to finish.
Katrina Meynink's tips
I really recommend serving this with some crème fraîche and even a squeeze of lemon juice. While there is lots of texture with the poached quince, the meringue and the crunch of the candied seeds, it is layers of sweet on sweet and the crème fraîche provides a very necessary cut-through. I also recommend smaller serves for this very reason.
You can just poach the quinces and omit the meringue and Indian fennel seeds and use the fruit as a base for all kinds of desserts, from pies and tarts and crumble, to adding gelatine and making your own quince paste.
