Baked quince with polenta shortbread

Name: Baked quince with polenta shortbread
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 8-10
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Ingredients: 500g sugar; 4 quinces; 1 vanilla pod, halved; peel from 2 mandarins; 2 star anise; 80ml cream; 50g castor sugar; 80g mascarpone; icing sugar, for dusting

Steve Manfredi

March 19, 2020

Baked quince and polenta shortbread stacks.Quentin Jones

Time:2 hours +Serves:8-10

Quince is the seasoned preserver's fruit of choice because the fruit's phenomenally high pectin content naturally sets jellies, jams, conserves and marmalades. The

Ingredients

500g sugar
4 quinces
1 vanilla pod, halved
peel from 2 mandarins
2 star anise
80ml cream
50g castor sugar
80g mascarpone
icing sugar, for dusting

For polenta shortbread

125g plain flour
80g fine polenta
100g blanched almond meal
80g castor sugar
1 egg yolk
juice of ½ lemon
grated rind of 1 lemon
60g butter, melted
50g duck or goose fat, melted (or 50ml extra virgin olive oil)
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

For the baked quince
Place sugar in a pot with 1.5 litres water and bring to the boil then stir well to dissolve. Preheat oven to 130C. Wash, peel and quarter quinces, removing cores. Place quince peel and cores on clean muslin and tie securely.
In a baking dish, place sugar solution with quince, muslin bag, vanilla pod, mandarin peel and star anise. Bake for 4-5 hours, until quince is deeply coloured and tender. Remove and cool in liquid, which stores well in fridge.
For polenta shortbread
Preheat oven to 180C. Mix flour, polenta, almond meal, sugar, yolk, lemon juice and rind. Incorporate butter, duck fat and vanilla.
Using an egg ring, shape into 5mm-thick rounds on non-stick baking tray. Bake for 30 minutes until golden but not dark. Cool before moving.
To assemble
Whip cream with castor sugar to form peaks. Fold into mascarpone. To serve, layer polenta shortbread with mascarpone cream and sliced quince. Dust with icing sugar.