Medlar Tart with Honeyed Quince and Vanilla Chèvre

From Kate Lebo

While researching historical uses of medlar for The Book of Difficult Fruit, I found mention of a tart recipe from 1653 that says, “Take Medlars that be rotten, and stamp them, and set them upon a chafin-dish with coals, and beat two yolks of Eggs, boyling till it be somewhat thick, then season it with Sugar, Cinnamon, and Ginger, and lay it in paste.” Translation (I think): take bletted medlars, smush the fruit from the skin, discard the seeds, no idea about the chafin-dish, then cook the fruit with eggs, sugar, and spices and smooth the mixture into a pastry shell. 

I tried recreating this tart for my chapter on medlars, but at the time I couldn’t find enough of the fruit to experiment more than once. That means this recipe is only partially developed hasn’t been tested. It needs your help!

You can use more or less medlar puree than I call for here. Use the amount you can make from the medlars you’re able to find. If you can’t find quince, forget the quince. Or substitute something else (apples? pears? some other rose-family fruit?) and tell me if it works.


Ingredients:

½ recipe pie dough (for a single crust pie)

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup honey

1 quince peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch chunks

6 ounces chèvre

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 ¼ cup medlar puree (see recipe below)

pinch of ground cinnamon 

pinch of ground ginger

To prepare the pie crust:

  1. Using your favorite pie crust recipe, make the dough and refrigerate it for at least an hour, or overnight. I use the all-butter crust from my book, Pie School.

  2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Roll out the crust and place it in a 9-inch pie plate. Tuck the dough into the plate, then trim and flute the edges. Freeze the whole things for 10 minutes, then dock the bottom and sides of the dough with a fork. 

  3. Line the crust with aluminum foil so that the edges of the foil stick up (don’t fold them over the dough) and fill the foil with pie weights. Old dried beans work great for this purpose. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. When the crust’s edges look blistered and blond, remove the crust from the oven and turn the heat down to 375 degrees F. 

  4. Remove the pie weights by picking up the foil at the edges and lifting the foil and weights from the crust. Put the empty pie crust back into the oven and bake it for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the bottom looks dry and golden and the edges are a little brown. Cool on a wire rack before filling.

To make the filling:

  1. In a small saucepan, combine the honey and water and bring them to a boil on high heat, stirring to combine. Add the quince and turn the heat down low. Simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the quince are deep pink and soft, take them off the heat. Set the fruit and syrup aside to cool.

  2. While the quince poaches, make vanilla chèvre: In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer on low speed, beat the chèvre, sugar, and vanilla extract together, increasing speed as the cheese breaks up, until the ingredients are mixed together. 

  3. In a small bowl, combine the medlar puree with 1 tablespoon of sugar and pinches of ground cinnamon and ginger. Taste and adjust until the medlar tastes sweet and spiced (pretty vague description, I know—this part of the recipe needs extra help).

To assemble the tart:

  1. Once the pie shell has cooled, spread vanilla chèvre in an even layer over the bottom. Spread the medlar puree over the cheese, then stud the medlar with quince, reserving the quince syrup for another use, like quince spritzes. Cut the tart in slices and serve. Store leftovers on the counter, covered, for up to 3 days.

Medlar Puree:

To make medlar puree, hold a bletted medlar by the bottom (the part that doesn’t look like its raunchy nickname, cul de chien) and smoosh the fruit out of the skin. Don’t worry about seeds yet.

Put the fruit pulp in a food mill. Using the large-grind disc, process the medlar until the flesh separates from the seeds, being careful not to smash the seeds (so seed shards don’t sneak into the puree). A handful of medlar—about 15—makes ¼ cup of medlar puree.

Store the puree in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.