Quince, rooibos and coriander seed tarts

1.For poached quince, peel quince (reserve peel), trim ends and cut in half lengthways. Place the quince, peel and trimmings in a single layer in a saucepan, add sugar, tea and 750ml water. Squeeze lemon juice into pan and add lemon half to pan. Bring to the boil, remove tea bag, then cover quince directly with a round of baking paper. Reduce heat to low and cook very gently, topping up with water when necessary to keep fruit covered, until quince turns a deep ruby colour (4-5 hours). Cool to room temperature, then trim cores (discard) from 3 quince halves and thinly slice. Reserve remaining quince for another use (such as breakfast).

2.Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180°C. Cut out rounds from pastry using a 12cm cutter and line eight 8cm loose-based tart tins. Refrigerate until firm (30 minutes), then trim excess pastry. Blind-bake pastry shells until light golden brown and set at top edge (15 minutes). Remove paper and weights, and bake until golden and cooked through (5-10 minutes). Press and flatten any pastry that has puffed with a tea towel. Brush with eggwash to seal, then bake until set (1-2 minutes).

3.For rooibos custard, bring cream, tea and coriander seeds to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and set aside to infuse (30 minutes), then warm through over low heat. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl to combine, then add warm cream mixture, whisking gently to combine. Strain into a jug and stand for 5 minutes to settle. Skim any froth from the surface of the custard before using.

4.Preheat oven to 130°C and warm pastry shells (1-2 minutes). Divide quince slices between shells, top each with custard and bake until custard is just set with a slight wobble in the middle (15-20 minutes). Cool, and serve dusted with icing sugar, with some reduced quince poaching syrup. Tarts are best eaten slightly warm or on the same day.