Skip to main content

Quince Crumble with Lillet Blanc Cordials #Winophiles


As we race towards the holiday season, and the end of the year, Jill of L'Occasion invited the French Winophiles to post about French dessert wines. You can read her full invitation: here. "Just as a dessert wine beautifies the winding-down of dinner, this experience eases us through the end of 2017 to a new and bright 2018," she writes. What a beautiful sentiment for our fun, wine-loving group!

What the Group is Pouring, Pairing, and Posting



What I Poured
Though I'm not much for sweet wines, I did have a bottle of Lillet Blanc in the fridge that I had used for my Guardians of the Galaxy-inspired Ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb! Martini.


Lillet Blanc is comprised of 80% Semillon, 15% Sauvignon Blanc, and 5% Muscadelle. While I usually think of this as a light, summer option, its floral notes reminded me of elderflower liqueur, so I thought to use it as I would an elderflower liqueur. Then I served the dessert with a lovely cordial of Lillet!


What I Baked
Autumn and Winter mean baking for me. Lots and lots of baking. Okay, truth be told, I bake all year long. But when the days get shorter and colder, I bake more. And when I saw a basket full of quince I think I squealed. Literally squealed. People stared. Oh, well...if they don't understand my joy at seeing this elusive fruit, too bad.


I adore quince. If you're unfamiliar, here's a piece I wrote for Edible Monterey Bay a couple of years back: Queen of Quince Takes Her Show on the Road

Ingredients serves 6 to 8
  • 4 or 5 quince
  • 1/2 C organic granulated sugar
  • 1 t ground cinnamon
  • 1 t Lillet Blanc
  • 1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 T organic corn starch
Topping
  • 1-1/2 C flour
  • 3/4 C organic granulated sugar
  • 3/4 C organic dark brown sugar
  • 1 t ground ginger
  • 1 t ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 t ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 t ground cardamom
  • 1/2 C butter, cubed
  • 1 T Lillet Blanc

Procedure
Rinse the quince and place them in a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered for 75 to 90 minutes until the quince is tender. The fruit will turn golden; the longer you poach it, the more pinkish it becomes.

'

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and butter a baking dish.


Slice drained, poached quince in half. Remove the cores and stems. Cut into thick slices and place in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle with corn starch, sugar, cinnamon, Lillet Blanc, and lemon juice.


Toss to coat. Spoon the quince into your prepared baking dish.


For the topping...place all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and use a pastry cutter to create pea-sized chunks.


Spoon the topping over the quince and use a spatula to spread it over the top. 

Bake the crumble for 40-50 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Serve hot with a cordial of Lillet.

Comments

  1. Hat's off to you for making a quince tart! We've been watching back seasons of the Great British Baking Show recently, and you'd be a natural there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jeff! I think I just saw that show pop up in my Netflix queue of "Shows You Might Like" or something like that. I'll watch an episode. Cheers.

      Delete
  2. I totally understand you reaction to seeing fresh quince. I had a similar, though more inward;-) reaction when I saw some at a Safeway a few week ago. Quince is a fruit/aroma I frequently see in sparkling wine tasting notes and I'd never had it fresh (just the paste). If I can find it again, I'm going to make your crumble. Thanks also for the info on the Lillet. I've seen it around, but never knew what it was! Happy Holidays to you and your family Cam!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Quince can be a little intimidating as it still resembles a rock after just 30 minutes of cooking. But it is well worth the effort, I think. Jake just had another cocktail that uses Lillet, so that bottle is definitely earning its place in my fridge.

      Delete
  3. All these years and I always thought Lillet is a liquor not a wine. Thank you so much for explaining the obvious. I love your tart and I think it is a wonderful pairing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So did I!! Even after I used it in a cocktail initially...I still thought of it as a liqueur. I am glad I did some more reading to discover that I could use it as a dessert wine.

      Delete
  4. So glad to see you featured Lillet! Quite by accident, I was introduced to it in Sacramento- my favorite corner grocer from the old world told me to mix 75/25 Lillet/sparkling water for an alternative to wine. Been hooked ever since. You are a brave woman to process raw quince ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now that I haven't tried. I will give it a shot as I have both in my house and I have some friends coming over for dinner today. Thanks, Lynn.

      Delete
  5. You’ve composed some enchanting ingredients here! Happy new year!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce