Special cake with quinces.
(printout version recipe September/October 2004 (2 pages A4))

Ingredients:
6 quinces (about 3 pounds)
125 gram (1 cup) ground almonds
125 gram (1/2 cup) curd (soft curd cheese, NOT defatted)
125 gram (1/2 cup) unsalted butter at roomtemperature
75 gram (1/2 cup) raisins
50 gram (1/4 cup) sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. mixed spices (I used ginger, cardamom, all spice and cloves with a ratio of 10:4:1:1 -note: together one teaspoon-, but you can use another combination or ratio if you want to)
6 egg yolks
dough for the crust

Preparation in advance:
Boil the peeled, cored and quartered quinces until soft (see the recipe for jelly below). meanwhile prepare the dough. Use a simple dough for pasties, with the addition of three tablespoons sugar.
According to the original recipe all ingrediënts for the stuffing must now be ground in a mortar, but I prefer to add the raisins later and keep them whole. So: Add everything except the raisins to a mortar or blender, and turn it into a purée.
The amounts given are sufficient for two large flat pies, or two springforms with a diameter of 22 cm. It is easy to make half the amount. However, if you want to make the quince jelly, you might want to make the full amount.

Preparation:
Carefully grease a low cake mould or a springform, and sprinkle some flour on the inside. Roll out the dough, drape it into the form. scoop the stuffing into the dough-clad form, and decorate the cake or pie to your fancy. Bake the cake in the oven (at 180 dgr C or 350 dgr F) for 40 to 50 minutes. Check whether the stuffing is done, remove the cake from the oven. Let the cake rest for five minutes, then take it out of the mould. Let the cake cool on a cake-rack.

To Serve:
What would be the ideal moment to serve a special cake as this? At tea-time of course, maybe as a special birthday treat, or as a (rich) dessert to finish a meal. Not necessarily with whipped cream. That was still very special in those days and was served as a separate dish.
If you decided to make the quince jelly too, you could compose a "grand dessert", with (warm) cake, a spoonful of jelly, and cream, whipped with a few drops of rose water (no sugar). The recipe below for the quince jelly is two hundred years younger than the cake recipe, but there are also  contemporary recipes to be found. I just fancied this one.

QUINCE jELLY

Ingredients:
for every pound of quinces 1 litre water
for 1 litre water 800 gram sugar
tasteless oil, or almond oil
a nice jelly mould

Preparation in advance:
Peel, core and quarter the quinces. Immediately immerse them in cold water to prevent decolourisation. Measure the amount of water needed (for every pound of quinces one litre water).
Boil the quinces until they are soft (30 minutes). Take the quinces out of the water, sieve the cooking liquid.

Preparation:
Return the sieved cooking liquid to the (cleaned) pan. Add the sugar, and bring to the boil again. Skim regularly. Continue boiling the liquid at a low fire until it has thickened enough. You can check this by dropping a drop from the pan onto a cold plate. When the droplet maintains its convex form and doesn't run, the jelly is done. It took four hours when I made this jelly. You have to remain alert: if you stop to soon, the jelly will not be firm enough and keep running (but it will be very tasty!). On the other hand, if you leave the pan on the fire for too long, or the fire is too high, the sugar will burn and you end up with a bitter and unpalatable (and rock-hard) jelly.
Grease one or more jelly-moulds with a neutral oil, and pour the warm jelly into it. Let cool completely.

To serve:
Immerse the mould a short while in hot water. cover it with the serving dish, and turn mould and dish in one movement. If you are lucky, you'll end up with a beautiful ruby-coloured jelly on your plate. To be honest: I was not so lucky. At first the jelly absolutely refused to budge, and when I had immersed it longer, I ended up with an unattractive blob. Maybe, to be on the safe side, it is best to use a simple rectangular form, cover that with an oiled silicone sheet, and trying to cut that mass after cooling into little squares. It is super sticky, but the taste is wonderful.
This jelly is very rich. Only serve small amounts as garnish for desserts, or dish it out as candy.