QUINCE AND ALMOND CAKE

Two ingredients that remind me of Spain, quince and almonds. This delightful cake fits in perfectly with this time of the year and one that will please all.

Serves 10

Ingredients

4 medium sized quince

100g sugar

1 cinnamon stick

200g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

200g caster sugar

3 large free-range eggs

50g plain flour

Pinch baking powder

125g ground almonds

1 lemon (finely grated zest)

For the icing

5-6 tbsp icing sugar

1-2 Tbsp quince syrup

Method

Begin by preparing the quince. Carefully peel and core the quince, roughly dice the quince into even bite sized pieces and cover with water, add the first measure of sugar and cinnamon stick. Cook until tender (20-30minutes). Drain the quince, reserving 3 tablespoons of liquid and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 180C

Grease the base and sides of a 20-22cm round cake tin and line the bottom with baking parchment.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time. When the eggs are fully incorporated, fold in the flour and baking powder then add the almonds and lemon zest. Fold through the drained quince.

Scrape the mixture into the tin and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the sponge is lightly golden-brown and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

While the cake is still hot and still in the tin, insert a skewer all over the surface and drizzle in 1-2 tablespoons of the quince liquid. Leave in the tin to cool.

To make the icing, mix 1 teaspoon of the quince syrup, a little at a time, into the icing sugar to make a smooth paste. Remove the cake from the tin and pour the icing on the top thinly. Serve.