Before everyone starts to think we are only eating desserts over here, let me explain: quince dessert one of my favorites and now is again that happy time of the year when you can get them in the shops. So last weekend I paid a visit to the local Turkish shop to buy quinces (as well as other favorite autumn things such as chestnuts) and here's the result. Simple but delicious...

Quince Dessert (Ayva Tatlisi)

1 kg quinces
300 gr sugar
150 ml water

1. Peel the quinces and divide in half or quarters. Cut out the cores. Arrange in a shallow saucepan. Take out 7-8 quince seeds out of the cores and sprinkle over the quinces. These will help give the quinces a golden color and also make the syrup a little thicker.
2. Sprinkle the sugar over and add the water.
3. Bring to boil and cook over low heat until the quinces are tender.
4. When cooled put in the fridge.
5. Serve cold with kaymak or mascarpone.... and enjoy!

For non-Turks: kaymak is a very thick cream served mostly with desserts in Turkey. The closest I find here is mascarpone, which also fits very well with other, dough-based Turkish desserts.

P.S. When this dessert was finished, I was left with some syrup which I didn't want to throw away. So I cooked it with the quince seeds still in it, and it became this delicious jam-like thing you see in the picture below. The pectine in the seeds makes it thick, but not too jelly-like. We really liked the taste as well as the color, so I'm planning to make the quince dessert with more syrup from now on ;-)