The Petit Quince Crumble {Page to Plate Thanksgiving}

Inspired by the Lionfish Supper Club Dinner at MEarth last month, I did a riff on the dessert for our Thanksgiving dinner. For dessert, they made a Chai-Poached Pear Crisp with Candy Cap Ice Cream. I was intrigued by the flavors and decided to make my own version. Mine starts with a Salted Fennel Caramel Sauce and I put the candy cap in the crumble topping instead.

If you're unfamiliar with candy cap mushrooms, they actually smell - and taste - like maple syrup.

Ingredients

• Salted Fennel Caramel Sauce
• 4 to 5 roasted quince, peeled and sliced
• 1-1/2 C flour
• 3/4 C organic granulated sugar
• 3/4 C organic dark brown sugar
• 1 t ground dried candy cap mushrooms (I grind mine in a coffee grinder)
• 1 t ground ginger
• 1/2 t ground cardamom
• 1 T hemp seeds
• 1 T dark chia seeds
• 1/2 C butter, cubed

Procedure
Pour caramel into the bottom of your baking dish.

Lay quince slices over the caramel, covering the caramel as much as possible.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, then make your crumble topping. Place all of the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Using your hands, incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients to make pea-sized chunks. 

Cover the quince with the topping, then bake in the oven for 50 to 55 minutes. The topping should be nicely browned and hard to the touch. The caramel might be bubbling along the dish edges.

Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream - R made Lychee-Ginger Dry Ice Sherbet for us - and a drizzle of more caramel.