The other day, while grocery shopping, I found super fresh quince and bought a couple of them to try. But me being me, I completely forgot about it until I was clearing the refrigerator for the week yesterday. I decided to use it up and since I was also in a mood to have something buttery, I decided to go ahead and make a pie with it.
Considering my sweet cravings never really end, this seemed like the best idea.
Like most of the recipes I post, this one is fairly simple too. Simple enough to do it with a toddler around. The only trouble I had was saving the dough from being eaten by the toddler.
Here’s what you will need:
For the filling:
- 2 large quince (peeled, cored and chopped)
- A couple of handfuls of fresh blueberries
- 1/4-1/2 cup dates syrup (adjust according to taste)
- 1/4-1/3 cup water
- Whole spices: 1 inch piece cinnamon, 1 star anise and 2 cloves
For the crust:
- 2.5 cups all purpose flour
- 200 grams butter (cut into cubes)
- 1/2-3/4 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1.5 tbs sugar
Method:
Cooking the filling: In a large, thick bottomed pan, add the chopped quince, 1/4 cup water and bring it to a boil along with the whole spices. Once it starts boiling, add the dates syrup and simmer for 45 minutes to one hour. The quince will turn pink. Let cool.
Preparing the pie crust:
- Take a large bowl and mix the flour,salt, sugar. Add the cubed butter to this and rub the flour mixture against the butter till small lumps form.
- Continue doing it until the mixture reaches a bread crumb-y texture. Now, slowly add water, a little at a time and make a dough.
- Divide the dough into two parts, cover one part with cling firm and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.
- On a clean, floured surface, roll the other half of the dough into a large circle or rectangle and cut strips or whatever pattern you want to make on top of the pie.
- Roll the refrigerated dough to a nice, big circle (at least 2 inches more in diameter than the baking dish you plan to use)
- Layer the pie plate neatly with this dough and cut off the excess dough from the sides.
- Now pour the prepared filling into this, place the blueberries on top and cover the pie using the patterns you have chosen to make. I made stars and circles with a cookie cutter.
- Glaze the top with some milk using a brush and bake it in a pre-heated oven at 200*c for 40-45 minutes (oven times may vary).
Your pie is now ready to be thulped. I highly recommend eating it warm with some vanilla ice cream or with a cup of chai.
Note: This pie isn’t too sweet, so if you would like it to be more sweet, please adjust the amount of dates syrup used or add sugar accordingly.
And So We Adult 