I know pumpkins get all the attention this time of year, but I prefer quince recipes like quince paste or this caramel upside-down quince cake. This decadent and moist cinnamon-flavored cake is drizzled with caramel, taking it to a whole new level!
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Quince is a little-known fruit that tastes so-so when eaten raw, but amazing when cooked as in this Quince Cake recipe. The quince is cooked for around 15 minutes first and then arranged over a layer of made-from-scratch caramel sauce. This ensures that the quince are perfectly tender.
If you love to indulge in caramel desserts, make sure you try our new 5-minute cream cheese caramel apple dip recipe!
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This cinnamon cake is rich, moist, delicious, and easy to prepare! Cardamom would be another wonderful spice to add to the cake. The reason I know that these spices work well together is that I use them in my quince jam recipe. They're a match made in heaven.
But be warned, quince is only available for a short time during the fall. So, if you really want to try this delicious quince cake recipe, don't put it off for too long!
🔖 Ingredients & substitutions
- Quince: Quince are a Fall fruit, usually available after October, at least in California. Choose quince that are blemish-free and firm. The more fragrant, the better.
- Rum: Although I use pineapple rum to make this quince cake, you can use your favorite rum flavor, pineapple, or orange juice if you prefer.
- Applesauce: Tropical applesauce can easily be replaced with plain applesauce.
*See recipe card for a full list of ingredients
🍐 How to Make Quince Cake
Quince and Caramel Topping
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350° and grease a 9" springform pan with a pat of butter. Set the pan aside.
Step 2: Wash the quince and slice it into quarters. Remove the seeds and middle portion and slice each quarter into 5 to 6 slices.
Step 3: Add sliced quince to a small saucepan and cover with approximately 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, for approximately 15 minutes or until the quince is tender, and drain.
Step 4: While the quince is simmering, add brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and salt to a small saucepan. Cook for approximately 3 minutes. Add half-and-half and rum and cook for a few more minutes until deeper in color and thickened.
Step 5: Pour half to ¾ of the caramel sauce into the prepared pan and leave the rest for drizzling on the cake before serving. Arrange cooked quince slices over the caramel.
Prepare Quince Cake Batter
Step 6: In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. In another bowl, whisk eggs, then add oil, milk, applesauce, and rum (or juice). Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, beating until just combined.
Baking Instructions
Step 7: Pour the batter over the quince. Bake the quince cake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, approximately one hour.
Step 8: Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert it onto a larger dish and cool.
When you're ready to serve the quince cake, drizzle the cake with the remaining reheated caramel.
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Similar to apples and pears, quince do not need to be peeled, unless you want to peel them. The peel is very thin and becomes very tender when cooked. Personally, I leave the peel on when cooking or eating quince raw.
Quince are not generally eaten raw because they are not very juicy or sweet. However, when ripe, quince can have a pleasant taste and a tropical aroma. The fruit improves in flavor when cooked, which is why it's usually used to prepare jam, quince cake, and quince pie.
Quince has a mild, slightly sweet taste and has a unique flavor that might be compared to an unripe pear. The flesh can be dry, firm, and sometimes spongy. Quince can also be tart when not ripe. Its taste improves greatly when cooked.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- Make sure to wrap the bottom of the springform pan with foil to prevent the caramel from leaking.
- Adding a foil-lined pan under the quince cake is also a great idea for easy cleanup.
- If you don't love cinnamon, replace some of the cinnamon with a variety of spices, including cardamom, ginger, and nutmeg.
- You may replace the rum in the caramel sauce with a teaspoon of vanilla.
- Besides pineapple rum, you can use spiced or plain rum. Moreover, the rum in the quince cake can be left out and replaced with orange juice.
- If you are not in a hurry, cook the quince in simple syrup so that the color transforms into a beautiful shade of pink or even red, if cooked long enough.
🍎 Related Recipes
If you enjoy this quince cake, try these other related recipes!
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📖 Recipe
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and grease a 9" springform pan with a pat of butter. Set pan aside.
- Wash quince and slice into quarters. Remove the seeds and the middle section, then slice each quarter into 5 to 6 slices.
- Place sliced quince in a small pot and cover with approximately 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, for approximately 15 minutes or until the quince is tender; then drain.
- While the quince is simmering, add brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and salt to a small saucepan. Cook for approximately 3 minutes. Add half-and-half and rum, and cook for a few more minutes until deeper in color and thickened.
- Pour half to ¾ of the caramel sauce into the prepared pan and leave the rest for drizzling over the cake before serving. Arrange cooked quince slices over the caramel.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, then add the oil, milk, applesauce, and rum. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, beating until just combined.
- Pour the batter over the quince and bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, approximately one hour.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert it onto a larger dish. Allow it to cool. When you're ready to serve the cake, drizzle with the remaining reheated caramel sauce.
Nutrition
Notes
- Make sure to wrap the bottom of the springform pan with foil to prevent the caramel from leaking.
- Adding a foil-lined pan under the quince cake is also a great idea for easy cleanup.
- If you don't love cinnamon, replace some of the cinnamon with a variety of spices including cardamom, ginger, and nutmeg.
- You may replace the rum in the caramel sauce with a teaspoon of vanilla.
- Besides pineapple rum, you can use spiced or plain rum. Moreover, the rum in the quince cake can be left out and replaced with orange juice.
- If you are not in a hurry, cook the quince in simple syrup so that the color transforms into a beautiful shade of pink or even red, if cooked long enough.
Ari says
Hi, just out of curiosity…is it 1 x 4oz Applesauce or 14oz applesauce? Sounds amazing
Ari
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Ari,
It's one 4 ounce container of applesauce.:)
Rose todtenhagen says
Love this very different cake!!
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks, Rose, I'm glad you like it. It's been a while since I've had it since I can't get quince here in Montana. Enjoy!