Quince tea cake

Quince tea cake

Winter

This is the very last recipe I made for Root steam leaf flower. It was so dark outside when we took the shot, I thought the camera shutter would never close. The cake, made with fragrant Earl Grey tea, orange zest and quince might well be the last cake I’d care to eat. It’s incredibly good warm from the oven, but it’s equally delicious toasted and buttered, in bed, in the morning.

Serves 8

Ingredients

For the quince

  • 2 Earl Grey tea bags
  • 4 bay leaves
  • Juice and finely grated zest of 1 orange
  • 200ml (7fl oz) boiling water
  • 2 quinces
  • 50g (1¾oz) light brown soft sugar

For the batter

  • Knob of butter, for greasing
  • 225g (8oz) self-raising flour
  • Good pinch of fine sea salt
  • 1 tsp ground mixed spice
  • 100g (3½oz) light brown soft sugar
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten

Method

Lightly grease the base and sides of a 1.2-litre (40fl oz) loaf tin – about 20 x 10cm (8 x 4in) or 15 x 15cm (6 x 6in) – and line it with baking parchment.

Prepare the quince. Put the tea bags in a bowl with the bay leaves, orange juice and zest and boiling water. Let the tea stew while you peel, quarter and core the quince.

Pop the quince quarters into a small pan. Remove the tea bags and pour over the tea, including the bay and orange zest. Add the sugar. The mixture should just about cover the quince. Place a lid on the pan and set it over a medium heat. When it comes to the simmer, reduce the heat to low and
let the fruit cook for 15–30 minutes, or until just tender. Remove from the heat and, using a slotted spoon, lift the quince out onto a plate and leave to cool. Remove the bay leaves from the poaching liquid and let the poaching liquid cool, too.

Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4.

Make the batter. Sift the flour, salt and mixed spice together into a bowl and add the sugar. Combine the egg and quince poaching liquid and add this to the flour and sugar mixture. Using a spoon, mix together to form a batter.

Fold the quince pieces into the batter, then spoon it into the prepared tin and give it a little tap to level the surface. Bake the cake for about 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cold, wrap the cake in greaseproof paper, store in an airtight tin and leave to mature for several days before eating. It will keep for at least a week in the tin.

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