Puff pastry baked camembert with quince

Ingredients

For the poached quince

• 2 large quinces, peeled, cored and halved lengthways
• 100g sugar
• 3 tbsp honey
• Juice of ½ lemon

For the baked cheese

• 375g pack of puff pastry
• 2 poached quince halves
• 1 egg, beaten
• Poppy seeds
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 4 slices of sourdough

Method

For the poached quince, tip the fruit into a medium-sized pan and cover with 750ml water. Stir in the sugar, honey and lemon juice, then bring to a simmer. Keep on the heat for 60-90 minutes, until the quinces and syrup have turned pink – cooking time will vary depending on the quinces. Leave to cool and transfer with the syrup into a large, sterilised jar.

Heat the oven to 200C. Lightly flour your work surface and roll the pastry out to a 5mm thickness. Cut out two circles – the base should be about the size of a saucer (the cheese needs to have about a 2-3cm gap all the way round), while the top should be the size of a dinner plate.

Lay your hand flat on top of the camembert and use a serrated knife to carefully cut the cheese in half horizontally. Slice two of the poached quince halves and arrange evenly on top of the bottom half of the cheese. Put the top lid of the cheese back on. At this point it’s a good idea to use a sharp knife to trim the sharp-edged top of the rind off, so that the cheese has a nice dome shape when covered.

Cover an oven-proof tray with a sheet of baking parchment. Put the smaller pastry circle in the middle, then carefully place the quince-filled cheese on top. Brush the exposed pastry at the base with egg, then lift the pastry lid on. Shape the pastry around the cheese with your hands, then use a fork to pinch the pastry seam together and create a seal. Brush with egg, scatter some poppy seeds over the top and bake for 25 minutes until golden.

Roast the garlic bulb alongside the cheese, until soft and golden. When the cheese is almost ready, toast the sourdough.

Image: Stuart Ovenden

Recipe from The Orchard Cook: Recipes from Tree to Table by Stuart Ovenden (Clearview)