Sticky quince and ginger cake.

This makes a pretty, moist cake studded with poached quince and stem ginger.
Save any leftover poaching syrup – it will solidify into a jelly and is delicious spread on toast.
Makes one 23cm cake.

150g butter, softened, plus a little more for greasing
2 large-ish quinces (about 600g)
160g caster or vanilla sugar
160g runny honey
1 small thumb fresh ginger, peeled and finely diced
Juice of ½ lemon
250g plain flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking powder
Good pinch of salt
180g caster or vanilla sugar
3 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
100g creme fraiche
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 balls stem ginger in syrup, drained and chopped

For the topping
3 tbsp syrup from the ginger jar
3 tbsp quince poaching liquid
2 tbsp granulated sugar

Heat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3.
Grease a 23cm x 5cm round, spring-form cake tin, line the base and sides with baking parchment, and butter the parchment.

Peel, quarter and core the quinces.
Cut each quarter into 1cm slices.
Put the quince into a large saucepan with 600ml water, the sugar, honey, ginger and lemon juice.
Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the quince is very tender and has turned a deep, rosy amber colour – about an hour and a half.
Drain, reserving the liquor.
Leave the quince to cool, and in a small pan reduce the liquor until thick and syrupy.

Sift the flour, ground ginger, baking powder and salt into a bowl.
In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Add the eggs and yolk one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Mix in a few tablespoons of the flour, the creme fraiche and vanilla, fold in the rest of the flour, then the poached quince and chopped ginger.
Spoon into the prepared tin and smooth the top with a spatula.
Bake for about an hour and a quarter (check after an hour – if the cake is browning too quickly, cover with foil), until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

While the cake is cooking, whisk together the ginger syrup and poaching syrup to make a glaze.
As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pierce the top a few times with a skewer and brush on the glaze, letting it trickle into the holes.
Sprinkle over the sugar and leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes.
Remove from the tin and leave on a wire rack to cool completely.

- Quince recipes | Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall | Life and style | The Guardian