Another week has almost passed by. So quick, isn´t it?
It´s such a long week for me with late night (World Cup!), deadline and lots of coffee to get by. It´s also the week of typical Melbourne weather – rainy, grey, cold, then sunny with blue sky, all in one day.
Late autumn, early winter is time for quince to appear. Every year until now, I have always slow-poached the fruit and enjoy it with yoghurt and muesli.
This year, I thought something different would be nice. Browsing through Arabsque, a lovely photo came up – quince, stuffed with mince meat. It was a straightforward recipe, with clear instructions from Claudia Roden. It would have been a fabulous dish, if I didn´t messed up the first stage of the process – baking the whole quince in the slow oven. I must have missed out something, but the fruits turned soft so quickly and exploded. No more stuffed quince. *sigh*
So what to do?
I made ice-cream. It was simple – a good basic ice-cream mixture, perfumed with cinnamon and nutmeg, then adding the soft quince mixture. It was creamy and fruity.
Am I crazy to make ice-cream in winter? Certainly not. It´s one of the most deliciously whimsical moments that I love. 
Based on the recipe here. You can go ahead and make the crumble mixture like Karen from Cistrus and Candy. It would be a nice touch.
Ice-cream base
500ml pouring cream
250ml milk
2.5 cinnamon quills
Freshly grated nutmeg
4 egg yolks
60g caster sugar
35g brown sugar
Method
In a pot over medium flame, heat the cream, milk, cinnamon quills and freshly grated nutmeg together to a low boil, while stirring constantly to prevent the milk from scorching on the bottom. Once bubbles start to form on the edges of the cream mixture, remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes for it to infuse.
Whisk the egg yolks with the sugars until pale and thickened. While continuously whisking, pour in the cream mixture in a slow, steady stream. Tip the whole mixture back into the pan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of the spoon thickly.
Strain into a container and cool completely, overnight in the fridge.
The Quince mixture
2 medium size quince
A bit of honey
Method
Wash the quinces, then bake in a preheated oven (180C) for about an hour or more until the fruit is soft. Cool, peel, scoop the flesh out (remove the seeds) and mix with some honey. If you are after smooth ice-cream, pass the cooked quince through a sieve to remove the fibre.
To assemble ice cream
Strain the chilled cream mixture into your ice cream machine and churn according to your manufacturer’s instructions. When ready and thick, spoon the ice cream out into a container and add the quince mixture. Mix through the ice cream loosely. Freeze.
(When serving the ice-cream, it’s best to bring the container out of the freezer for 10 mins to soften the ice-cream a little. I sprinkle my ice-cream with lots of pistachio)
I’m sending this entry to Weekend Herb Blogging #239, hosted by Rachel from The Crispy Cook. Information on WHB can be found here.
i love your presentation! never would've thought to present icecream in cupcake liners so cute!
*sigh* I just adore your photos. Save some ice cream for me!!!
So pretty! I love your cute cups!
Love the photos, Anh! So pretty and delicate!
Brilliant! Really, ice cream never goes out of season. I would be happy to have a flavor like this on hand any time of the year.
These are soo cute! Ice cream is perfect for any weather hee hee and the addition of cinnamon just makes it more the enticing
Quinces are so versatile and delicious! I've never had quince ice cream, but I bet it tastes just divine!
Your ice-cream looks like a cupcake. I like home flavored ice-cream.
Lovely presentation … awesome post, delicious ice-cream
Oh i'm craving so much right now. This look like perfection!
This looks absolutely delicious! The pistachio on top is a great touch. I could eat ice cream any time of year. 😉
It is a different feeling to have ice-cream during winter. It reminded me of a winter day when we were out, saw a ice-cream truck along the street and ordered 2 cones without hesitation. Ha!
Gorgeous presentation! It looks like something straight out of a carnival. Sounds like a delicious flavour too!
so unique to serve the ice cream in a cupcake liner and with spiced flavours. I like it!
I would have never thought to do ice cream in the winter…love the quince and cinnamon flavours! Well done Anh!
What a lovely ice-cream; in Lebanon quince are consumed mainly in jams; I love the technique you used with swirling it at the end.
looks delicious and the presentation is fabulous
What an unusual ice cream, Anh! I adore the color. Do you know, I've never had quince except in jams?
Not sure if my comment went through…hope so. :)
Oh it's not winter here and this looks like the most amazing ice cream. I bought an ice cream maker some time ago. It just collects dust. I'm happy for your inspiration!
That is so pretty Anh, love the cups. And I love quince. I know what you mean, I always seem to poach it and eat it straight, nice to do something different. Although ice-cream wouldn't have been my first pick
(I'm a reall wuss in winter).
love the colours! and how you topped it off with pistachios.
what genius – looks delicious – I have quinces that I need to cook so am glad to see how you have been creative with yours – gives me hope mine might be ok
Oh YUM! Great idea. I have some quinces left but shall be poaching and pasting it.
Beautiful food styling and photos! And of course we love ice cream in winter! This looks luscious!
In New England, where I live, we are known for eating more ice cream year-round than any other part of the US. So ice cream in winter? Absolutely yes!
The photos rock – And I've heard so much about Arabesque, I think I should buy it! Love quince and the combo looks great!
A wonderful way to turn a minor kitchen tragedy into a splendid new recipe. Thanks for sending this over to Weekend Herb Blogging. Look for the roundup on Monday.
Ice cream is never out of season for us. This has beautiful flavors of the winter, nicely spiced for the warm fuzzy feeling with the delight of the ice cream. we get quinces here only for a few weeks during the season and they are so overpriced that I never get to buy them. Now with this idea of ice cream and with an ice cream machine it is worth to indulge.
Finally getting around to comment and wow, I love the cupcake liners as ice cream bowls! And much love for the cinnamon 'spoons' :D
Spiced quince is such a unique ice-cream. I'll have to try it. And the cups are perfect as ice-cream cups, in my opinion they work better than cupcakes cups.
Quince ice cream sounds divine! Even in Winter!