Using quinces

One of the nicest ways is to bake them whole (without coring) – just place in a pan, with a little water and a few spoonfuls of honey and bake in a preheated oven, 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4, for about 45 minutes, until tender. Their flavour is powerful, however, and this may be too strong for some tastes. If you can only lay your hands on a couple of quinces, you may well feel that this is squandering a fruit that lends its flavour out well.

The answer is to combine a small quantity of quinces with three or four times as many apples or pears. A compote of pears and quinces, sliced and simmered until tender in a vanilla syrup and eaten cold with clotted cream, is a most elegant autumn pudding. The quinces take much longer to cook than the pears – at least 30 minutes – so start them off on their own, adding the pears when the quinces are almost tender.