Comfort by the Spoonful

Isn't this beautiful? I had bought a solitary quince at one of the fruit stalls downtown last weekend after my acupuncture appointment, even though I had no clue what the heck I would do with it! I was clueless as to what the knobbly, green, hard thing would taste like, but I had seen so many tempting creations out on the blogs with the fruit that I was dying to try something... anything... with it. A pie sounded good, and festive... and I know somewhere I had seen apples and quince paired up... so apple-quince pie it was.

It was only after I got home that I realized that I had to cook the quince in a sugar syrup first, which for me takes all the joy out of the texture an apple pie has. To overwhelm the fruit with sugar and spice "goo" before encasing it in a buttery shell isn't how we roll at my place (yes, Teaghan, I stole your phrase!).

So, new plan. If the quince had to be cooked (as pretty much every source of mine indicated), cook it I would. But not into pie... I wanted fruit, dammit! So, I "de-pied" the whole idea and came up with this shiny, perfectly sweet sauce that I just finished licking greedily from the bowl (after using half of it for something else equally tasty, and more portable, that I'll share soon!).

The spices sparkle in this sauce, and the natural juices from the fruit with just the tiniest touch of sugar really make a shiny glaze for the chunks of quince that nestle in their creamy apple beds. Hopefully they can stand up to the other bedecked offerings at the glittery SHF this month, and thanks to Jennifer, the Domestic Goddess for creating it!

Apple-Quince Sauce
Serves 4
3 small apples, peeled and chopped
1 medium apple, unpeeled and chopped
1 medium quince, peeled and chopped
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup water

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat.
2. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 40 minutes, until fruit is tender and broken down.
3. Serve immediately or cool and refrigerate.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 84.4
Total Fat: 0.4 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 0.9 mg
Total Carbs: 22.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.5 g
Protein: 0.3 g

And...and...and... did you SEE this video of Jaden on ABC7 and CBS10? I love tropical fruit, and these tricks rock!!