Step 1

Preheat oven to 130C. Place sugar and 1 litre water in a wide ovenproof pan and bring to the boil over high heat. Add the vanilla bean, lemon rind and cinnamon quill and return to the boil.

Step 2

Meanwhile, peel the quince (reserve peelings), cut into quarters and remove cores, placing quince into the syrup as you go, along with the peelings, to prevent discolouring. Cover with a cartouche, bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and place in oven until quince are the desired tenderness and colour (5-6 for medium ruby colour; 7-9 hours for deep burgundy; for a very deep colour, turn oven off after 9 hours and leave to cool completely overnight in oven). Poached quince keeps refrigerated for about a month.