Spiced-Quince Brown Butter Cake

Yup! It's the season for quince again, apple's ugly cousin (don't say it too loud or it might get offended). Most variety of quince are too hard, astringent and yucky to be eaten raw and one in hand gives little hint of the sensuous texture it reveals when cooked, but once they're gently poached in a simple syrup with vanilla and/or spices ... Ahh!.. now that's another story. Watch out ladies and gentlemen... It will bring out the devil in the kitchen.

Even I, insensitive brat that i am, lost my senses to the heady perfume of the fruit cooking with star anise, vanilla, clove and cinnamon. Didn't feel that guilty since my teens in France, when i would sneak-out of my bedroom at 2 am to watch Playboy Tv while my parents and siblings were asleep. It was unbearable in a good way. A little bit like watching the 2 am movie on an encryted channel... without the decrypter. And i don't care what my friends say, shaking your head from left to right really fast does NOT work!.. hm ... How the heck did we get here?

Oh yes, the quince! Let's start the recipe before this story gets worse, and believe me, it can! The goal today is to learn how to make this baby...

Update: I'm submitting this recipe to Mansi's blog event: A vegetarian Thanksgiving.

Spiced-Quince Brown Butter Cake

(serves 6)

QUINCE:

• 2 large quince, peeled, cored, and each cut into 16 slices
• 1 cups sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split
• 1 whole clove
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anise
• 3 cups water

CAKE

• ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1-1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• ½ cup almond flour
• 1/3 cup cake flour
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
• 4 large egg whites (1/2 cup)
• ½ tsp grated orange zest
• Additional butter for greasing the pans

1. To prepare the quince, in a large saucepan, combine the quince and all the ingredients. Cut a round of parchment paper and lay it on top of the quince to keep the fruit submerged. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer until the quince is tender, about 1 hours. Let the quince cool in the poaching liquid. Drain the quince pieces on layers of paper towel. Discard the liquid.


2. To make the cake, preheat the oven to 400F. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to let the butter cook until it turn a rich hazelnut brown. Strain the browned butter through a fine sieve into a clean bowl, discard the solids.


3. Sift together the confectioners’ sugar, almond flour, cake flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Place the sifted ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment. On the lowest speed, add the egg whites and orange zest and mix. Increase the speed to medium and beat until very smooth. Decrease the speed to low and stir in the browned butter, beat until smooth.


4. Butter a 10-inch tart pan or individual tart pans with a removable bottom or a springform pan. Pour in the batter and smooth the top. Arrange the quince slices on the batter.

5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Remove the sides of the pan before serving because they really don't taste that good.