Quince Tartelettes à La Rose
By: Rita Banci
Published: Wednesday, December 22, 2010 - 1:47am

Ingredients




For the pie crust:
3 cups flour, sifted
2 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
150 grams butter, at room temperature
of salt
For the filling:
1 1/2 kilograms quinces
100 grams brown sugar
30 grams butter
100 milliliters rose water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
7 cardamom pods, seeds only
5 cloves 
1/2 teaspoon aniseed
1 juice and zest of lemon
50 grams raisins

Preparation

1 Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F). 2 On a smooth surface (preferably marble) pour flour, sugar, egg yolks and salt and knead with your hands until you form a dough (add flour if needed). Wrap the dough in a cooking plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour. 3 Peel, core and cut the quinces into small cubes. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and stir in sugar, cinnamon, cardamom seeds, cloves and aniseed. Toss the quince cubes and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring now and then. Pour rose water and lemon juice; stir in lemon zest. Now cook for about 30 minutes till quinces are soft and tender. Stir in raisins and remove from heat. 4 Spread the dough 0.5 cm high with a rolling pin and cut it with round cutters (8-10 cm diameter). 5 Grease a muffin mould with melted butter and sprinkle with flour. Place the dough rounds in each slot so to create a sort of little baskets. Pin with a fork. Fill the tartelettes with the quince mixture and bake for 15 minutes. 6 Serve hot, preferably with some brandy butter or whipped cream

About


For these tartelettes I was inspired by a Lebanese recipe for baked stuffed apples that employed rose water. I thought that rose water would be perfect with quinces, especially if enhanced by the warmth of spices like cardamom, cinnamon and cloves.
For the pie crust I used my mom’s traditional recipe that goes well with almost everything.