Recipe: Quince and Apple Crisp

It can be hard to get into the Thanksgiving mood when all your friends and neighbours are still a month and a half away from thinking about it. So, we don't celebrate Thanksgiving every year but, this year, I felt like it.

A dinner of roast chicken, sausage stuffing, Brussels sprouts, and caramelised onion mashed potatoes was followed by a quince and apple crisp.



The Rome apples are from Patrick's Garden, a local organic farmer who sells at the Sunrise farmer's market. I also picked up two quinces at the market to include in the dessert.

Quince and Apple Crisp

3 cups water
1.5 cups sugar
2 quinces, cored, peeled, and cut into eighths
3 apples, cored, peeled, and cut into quarters (I used Rome apples)

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat water and sugar over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Continue to heat until the syrup sends up little bubbles; you don't want to boil it but it needs to be hot enough to poach the quince.

Add the quince sections to the syrup and reduce the heat to a good simmer. Cook for 15 minutes until the quince are soft. Remove fruit from the syrup and set aside. Reserve the syrup for another use (may I recommend using it to sweeten your tea?).

Combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and oatmeal in a medium bowl. Cut in butter.

Butter a 1.5 liter baking dish. Combine the quince and apple and put both into the buttered dish. Top with oatmeal mixture and bake for 55 minutes.

Serve with cream or ice cream.