Quince & Almond Tart with Rosé

The Quince and Almond Tart with Rose is one of the few recipes I’ve read through in Dessert Person and been very unsure whether I could make it happen. The whole reason: quince. What is a quince? Not only have I never heard of quince, but I knew the odds of finding any in Utah were slim to none.

I had just about all the other ingredients, so I did some research and found quince fruit is similar to apples or pears. I decided I would give this one a whirl by substituting it with pears, otherwise it would probably never happen. I started by making the Flaky All-Butter Pie Dough. I didn’t get to buy any star anise before trying this recipe, but I figured I’d survive. I also used ground cinnamon instead of a stick.

Once I finally got all the ingredients figured out, I used a Dutch oven to make the poaching liquid with the rosé, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and cocktail bitters. Then I added strips of lemon zest as well as the rest of the lemon halved. It simmered until the sugar dissolved, creating a delicious, sweet smell throughout my kitchen.

As the poaching liquid simmered, I used a similar method to prepare the pears as I did the apples in the Foolproof Tarte Tatin; cutting the ends, peeling the skins, halving the pears and carving out the seeds with a melon baller. When the poaching liquid was ready, I added the pears into the juice and added some water so all the pears were completely submerged. I let the pears cook in the liquid for about 20 minutes; since I’m not entirely sure how quinces compare in firmness to fresh pears, I watched the pears carefully to make sure the fruit didn’t break down too much. By the time I placed the pears on a plate to cool, they were definitely softer from the poaching liquid, but not too much.

While the pears cooled, I added in the pear skins into the poaching liquid. I also added some more sugar, as it seemed this liquid would not thicken well once I boiled it into a syrup. After 25 minutes, I was able to run a spatula through the syrup and get a line. I strained the liquid to eliminate the seeds and peels, then placed it in the fridge. I’m never quite sure if these liquids that are supposed to form into a jelly or thick consistency will actually do so, but this time it seemed things were working effectively. I then carefully cut the pear halves crosswise into ¼ inch slices. I kept the slices together until I knew what I was doing with them next; I didn’t want to risk needing to spread them perfectly and then have the slices all over the place!

Next, I rolled out the almond paste; this was the first time I ever used almond paste, which seems somewhat similar to marzipan, but I do like almond paste more for the flavor. Since I was using a 9-inch skillet for this dessert, I rolled the almond paste out to an 8-inch round. I then rolled the pie dough out to a 9-inch round, using a plate to guide me.

The next steps were very similar to assembling a Tarte Tatin. I added most of the poached syrup-jelly mixture to the bottom of the skillet, then layered the pears in a rose form as best as I could since they were so fragile. I placed the almond paste layer on top, then draped the pie dough over the whole skillet, spooning the edges into the sides between the pears and skillet. I slit a couple marks over the top and baked it for 50 minutes, lowering the temperature to 350°F for the last half hour.

Similar to a Tarte Tatin, I carefully took the skillet out of the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before flipping it on a cooling rack. Make sure to do this step with oven mitts and over the sink! It will make a mess when the tart flips over and leaks out poaching juice. Fortunately, the flip was successful! As it cooled I glazed the last top of the pears with the last of the poaching jelly.

While I am happy I got to try this recipe in some fashion, I was not completely in love with the end product. Overall, the tart managed to stay intact, but the poaching jelly leaked throughout the bottom of the plate, which did not help my presentation. My version definitely turned out more wet because of this, rather than the beautiful crust with glazed fruits that Claire showed in Dessert Person. The taste wasn’t bad, as the pears and rosé combination worked very well. It just simply wasn’t up to my standards! It’s not easy to find every ingredient all the time, and there’s certainly risk with using substitutes. Hopefully someday I will get to try a quince and see if I was on the right track!

Claire has not made this dessert on her YouTube Channel, I will share if she does!