Name: Quince and Apple Custard Tart with Sweet Cicely Cream
Yield: Serves 6-8
Ingredients: a few small leaves and flowers of sweet cicely, to decorate; 30 g (1 oz) icing sugar; 90 g (3 oz) butter; 2-3 tablespoons milk; 45 g (1½ oz) amaretti or almond macaroon crumbs; 450 g (1 lb) ripe Cox’s Orange Pippin apples; 300 ml (½ pint) whipping cream; 1 large ripe quince, peeled, sliced and cooked; 90 g (3 oz) vanilla-flavoured sugar; 150 ml (¼ pint) double cream; 2 tablespoons muscat or sweet white wine such as a monbazillac; 2 eggs; 3 leaves of sweet cicely; 1-2 tablespoons sugar; 120 g (4 oz) plain flour; 60 g (2 oz) ground almonds

Preparation info

Serves
6-8

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Complete Book of Herbs

By Geraldene Holt

Published 1991

About

The scented quince effectively perfumes its fellow ingredients with the result that an apple or a pear tart made with an almond pastry reflects a glorious marriage of flavours.

Ingredients

Almond Pastry

120 g (4 oz) plain flour
60 g (2

Method

To make the pastry, sift the flour, almonds and sugar into a bowl. Rub in butter and add milk to mix to a dough. Form the dough into a ball, wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the sweet cicely cream. Infuse the 3 leaves in the wine in a small pan over low heat for 5 minutes. Strain into a bowl and stir in the sugar. When cool, add the cream and whip until thick. Spoon