Around this time of the year, we start planning our festive menus. Menus for gatherings with family, friends, or solo dining. We turn to old and new recipes, to our family’s food traditions or get inspiration from new friends. Have a look at our Christmas recipes, for a selection of our favourite vegetarian and vegan dishes for this time of the year.
Today we have an old, family recipe for you. Much loved in Marianna’s family, spiced quince is their go-to winter dessert. It is the centrepiece of their festive dessert table and something they always make during this time of the year for Sunday lunch.
In this recipe here, we’ve used Metaxa 12*. Its elegant taste, with notes of dried fruit, orange peel and hints of spices, offers depth and warmth to this dish. In this case, a little goes a long way. Serve the quinces with a glass of Metaxa 12*, like we did in our last Dinner Experience.
Serves 8
4 quinces
450g caster sugar
1.5 lt water
3 cinnamon sticks
10 cloves
2 tbsp Metaxa 12 Stars
2 tbsp honey (we used wild flower honey)
Preheat the oven at 180C.
In a medium-sized baking dish stir in the sugar and water. Stir well.
Cut in half and core each quince. Place them, cut side down in your baking dish. Make sure they are tightly squeezed together and all in one layer. Scatter around the cinnamon sticks and cloves. Drizzle the Metaxa and honey. Cover with tinfoin.
Bake at 180C for 1.5 hours or until the quinces are tender, removing the tinfoil for the last 20 minutes of cooking.
Serve in a bowl, with Greek yoghurt and plenty of the fragrant syrup.
You can reserve the syrup to make your own festive cocktails or mocktails.
