While no one says “easy as quince pie,” preparing this tart, aromatic fruit is a labor of love that’s well worth the effort. Take one sniff of a ripe quince and you’ll never forget the ...

Quince can be added to cooked apple and pear dishes or used to make quince sauce. It also makes excellent preserves, especially marmalade.

A quince fruit looks like a pale yellow, bumpy apple, sometimes covered in soft fuzz. When ripe but uncooked, it is solid, hard to slice, and its flavor astringent, so why bother to eat quince at all?

This dessert defines an exact moment in the season – the end of autumn and the beginning of winter – and I prepare it as soon as the first quince are ripe. However, with its warm and spicy ...