Combination steamed quince with bay and star anise
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup 165ml water
- ½ cup 150g clear honey
- ½ cup 110g caster sugar
- Peeled skin and juice from 1 lemon I just peel off 3 or 4 big strips of skin, avoiding the white pith as much as possible
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 star anise
- 1 vanilla bean split and seeds scraped out (delicious but not essential – throw in an extra star anise if you haven’t got vanilla)
- 4 large quinces peeled, cored and each cut into 6-8 wedges
Instructions
- Set your oven to 170⁰C on combination steam (if your oven has variable steam settings, use 80% steam).
- Mix all ingredients except the quince in a bowl, stirring to dissolve the honey and sugar (don’t worry if it doesn’t completely dissolve).
- Put the quince, single layer, in a baking dish and pour the syrup over it. Cook for about 2 hours, until it’s tender and bright ruby red, and the top bits are browned. Cool to barely warm, then serve or refrigerate, covered, for up to 5 days. Your syrup will probably set into a jelly when cold, so just reheat in the steam oven or very gently on the stovetop to bring it back to a liquid before serving.