Quince and almond crumble

I'm a lucky girl. Our friend Michelle who shares my love of quinces, saved a huge bag of this delightful fruit for me. Now I have enough to try all the lovely recipes I fancy, like this comforting, flavourful and luxurious Quince and almond crumble. Back in September incomparable Dom from Belleau Kitchen posted a recipe for a lush and impressive Baked plum and Pimm's jam granola crumble. I have half a bottle of Pimm's in the fridge, semi-forgotten since the hot summer days of outdoors drinks with ice. I know the bottle is there, but who really fancies having a drink with it in winter?! Not me. Using some of it in crumble sounds like a great idea.

Quince and almond crumble
Ingredients:
4 quinces
3 cloves
4tbsp sugar
1/2tbsp cinnamon
4tbsp Pimm's
100g flour
90g butter, softened
50g ground almonds
50g oats
100g muscovado sugar

Peel the quinces and chop them into big pieces, rubbing with a piece of lemon to prevent from browning. Put the quince pieces in a medium pan, add the sugar and cloves and enough water to cover the fruit. Cook for 15 minutes.
Take the softened quinces out of the pan and put in a deep ceramic dish (I actually use a lasagne dish, but you might have a special crumble dish). Pour the Pimm's all over the quinces.
In a mixing bowl mix the softened butter with the flour, oats, ground almonds and muscovado sugar, and rub the mix with your hands until it resembles the crumbs. Cover the quinces with the crumb mix and place the dish in an oven preheated to 180C.
Cook for about 35 minutes, until golden brown and the juice bubbling out in the corners.

Serve hot, with a generous dollop of plain Greek yogurt, pour cream or add a good helping of Kelly's clotted cream ice cream. It is a winning combination of flavours. The ice cream melts into a delicious sauce, and the Pimm's adds an extra verve to the crumble.

Thank you, Michelle, for the quinces!

Kelly's ice cream: winter recipes and serving ideas

As a true Russian girl, I loved eating the ice cream outdoors in winter. It could be freezing cold with the temperatures plunging below zero (our typical winter temperature would be below 20C, and when we were kids, we were allowed to skip the school only if it were below 27C with the wind, otherwise we were supposed to attend the school, and on those cold days with the school being closed, most of us were playing in the snow anyway). It was particularly cool and daring to eat the ice cream outside, and yes, some of us had colds and sniffles, but we lived to tell the tale. So, winter or not, I don't see why ice cream should be only a hot weather treat? Kelly's of Cornwall have come up with a few recipes and serving ideas.

I have tried almost all Kelly's ice cream flavours, but keep going back to the classic Clotted Cream flavour. It is so versatile, rich and moreish! (see my blog review A scoop of Cornwall). As a friend of ours has generously sent to us a huge bag of quinces, I am cooking them on a daily basis. Just the other day I made a tasty Quince and almond crumble, and served it with the luxurious Kelly's clotted cream ice cream. The melting ice cream complemented the hot crumble perfectly, and the combination of flavours and textures was wonderfully good.

Kelly's ice cream is a perfect companion to any hot pudding.

Kelly's ice cream serving ideas for winter:

"Don¹t let the cold winter air put you off your ice cream. Here are some ideas to take the chill out of your ice cream and create delicious desserts perfect for colder days."
   
1) Hot sauces for ice cream: 

The simplest hot sauce to make is a melted chocolate sauce. Melt dark chocolate and combine with cream to make a classic chocolate sauce.

Allow to cool and pour over the ice cream of your choice. Kelly's Clotted Cream and Raspberry ice cream with hot dark chocolate sauce is particularly delectable.

For a sweeter sauce, appealing to kids and adults with a sweet tooth like my darling husband, melt some chocolate bars like Mars or Fudge bars instead of the dark chocolate. Pour over Kelly's clotted cream ice cream.

2) Hot chocolate with a scoop of Kelly's Clotted cream ice cream on top. Now we're talking business. Sounds so yummy!

or for grown-ups, a scoop of ice cream covered in a shot of espresso to recreate the classic Italian dessert Affogato.

  

And how about a small cup of coffee glisse? Just add some sugar (or keep it sugar-free) to a freshly brewed cup of coffee and top up with your favourite vanilla or clotted cream ice cream?

Of course, Kelly's ice cream goes beautifully with the toffee apples, all kinds of crumble including the rhubarb crumble, treacle tart and apple pie.

4) Classic baked Alaska: defying all logic, this 70s favourite is due for a revival. A sponge cake, which is covered in meringue and served with a hot sauce. Try vanilla sponge cake covered in Kelly's clotted cream and golden syrup ice cream, or a chocolate sponge covered in Kelly's Clotted cream and raspberry ice cream.

For more inspiration, visit Kelly's of Cornwall recipes.

Disclosure: I received vouchers for a tub of Kelly's ice cream for the purposes of promoting the winter recipe ideas with Kelly's ice cream. All opinions are mine.