Ayva Tatlısı (Turkish Baked Quince in Syrup)
آیوا تاتلیسی (شیرے میں پکی ترکی بہی)
Quince is hard, sour and almost inedible raw, but slow cooking transforms it. For ayva tatlısı, quince halves are cooked in a light syrup with their own seeds and a few cloves until they turn soft, fragrant and a deep, glowing ruby red. Served cold with a spoon of thick cream and crushed pistachios, it's one of the most beautiful desserts in Turkish cooking, and one of the easiest.
- ⏱ Total: 1 hr 30 min
- Prep: 15 min
- Cook: 1 hr 15 min
- Easy
- Serves 4
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Rub the fuzz off the quinces, peel them (keep the peel) and cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out the cores and seeds with a spoon to make a hollow; keep the seeds.
Lay the peels in the bottom of a wide pot and place the quince halves on top, cut side up. Sprinkle the sugar over them, scatter the seeds and cloves around, and pour in the water.
Cover and cook on low heat for 60–75 minutes, basting with syrup now and then, until the quince is very soft and deep red and the syrup is thick. Add the lemon juice at the end.
Cool in the syrup and chill. Serve each half with a spoon of cream in the hollow, pistachios on top and a little syrup.
Kitchen notes
The peel and seeds contain pectin and colour; cooking them with the fruit gives the red colour and thick syrup.
Long, gentle cooking is what turns quince red. If it's still pale, cook longer.
It can also be baked, covered, at 170°C for about 1½ hours.
From hard fruit to ruby dessert
Quince has been cooked in syrup across Anatolia, Persia and the Mediterranean for centuries. Ayva tatlısı is the Turkish version, served in homes and in fine pastry shops, where the halves are presented whole with a generous spoon of kaymak. South Asian cooks know quince as bihi, used for murabba.
Why it turns red
Raw quince is pale yellow. During long, gentle cooking, natural compounds in the fruit slowly change and turn it pink, then a deep ruby red. Cooking the fruit with its own peel and seeds deepens the colour and thickens the syrup naturally.
Choosing quince
Look for large, heavy, golden-yellow quinces with a strong perfume; a quince that smells of nothing will taste of little. The grey fuzz on the skin rubs off easily under running water. Quinces are very hard, so use a sharp, heavy knife and a steady board, and cut carefully. Outside Turkey and South Asia, quinces appear in autumn in Middle Eastern, Turkish and many large supermarkets.
Serving
Serve cold, with a spoon of thick cream in each hollow, crushed pistachios and a little syrup, alongside Turkish coffee. The leftover syrup makes a lovely drink diluted with water, much like ayva şerbeti.
Questions people ask
When are quinces in season?
Autumn and early winter in both Turkey and Pakistan, roughly October to January.
What is kaymak?
Turkish clotted cream, very thick and rich. Clotted cream, mascarpone or thick malai are good substitutes.
How long does it keep?
Up to a week in the fridge in its syrup.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 320
- Protein
- 2 g
- Fat
- 10 g
- Carbs
- 58 g
