Quince & apple compote is topped with a light sponge and a layer of spiced crumble to create an irresistible dessert. Delicious served hot, warm or cold.
My daughter Kipper is a bit obsessed with quinces. I think there was one in an alphabet book once – let’s face it, there’s not a great deal of choice when it comes to ‘Q’ words. We even watched this video on YouTube to learn all about quinces and medlars. That probably helped with her enthusiasm. In any case, she’s been keen to eat one for a while now.
Market fruits
So when I saw a box of them on the market alongside some lovely looking Bramley apples, I gave in and bought one. What kind of Mum would I be if I didn’t indulge my daughter’s desire for unusual fruits once in a while?
Fruity puddings
My original plan was simply to cook the quince and apples together, then make the resulting compote into a crumble. Easy and delicious. But DH isn’t a big crumble eater. He moans that crumble is what you make when you can’t be bothered to make pie. I thought again. We all enjoy fruit sponge, sometimes called Eve’s Pudding, which is basically apple (and in this case quince) topped with a layer of lovely sponge.
Crunchy crumble
For some reason, I couldn’t shake the idea of a lovely crunchy crumble topping. In the end, I combined both sponge and crumble and made a…. spomble? Crunge? Crongle? Who knows?!
This quince and apple pudding was fab though, and even DH agreed that the layer of crumble added something to the sponge. Kipper was predictably keen to get her teeth into the quince, and scoffed a generous portion. I even tried it out on an unsuspecting friend who said it was “fabulous”.
I don’t know if quinces will be a regular feature, but I think the spungle (?) is here to stay.
Hot or cold?
We ate this warm from the oven and it was lovely. The next day, we attacked the leftovers. DH microwaved his, but I couldn’t wait and tucked into it cold. I can now safely say that it’s good at any temperature.
Quapple spomble. Serves 4.
Want deliciously easy, family-friendly recipes like this one delivered straight to your inbox? Click here to sign up. (Of course, I’ll never pass on your email address to anyone.)

Quince and apple sponge crumble
Ingredients
- 2 medium bramley apples approx. 350-400g each
- 1 medium quince
For the sponge
- 75 g margarine (⅓ cup)
- 55 g caster sugar (¼ cup)
- 1 egg
- 55 g self-raising flour (½ cup)
- Few tablespoons milk
For the crumble
- 25 g plain flour (2 tbsp)
- 10 g rolled oats (2 tbsp)
- 25 g caster sugar (2 tbsp)
- 25 g margarine (2 tbsp)
- ½ teaspoon mixed spice
Instructions
- Peel the apples and the quince and cut into small chunks. Place in a non-metallic bowl, cover and microwave for around 5-6 minutes, stirring halfway, until cooked.
- Spoon the cooked fruit into a shallow ceramic dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 180C.
- To make the sponge, cream the margarine and sugar till light and fluffy. Mix in the egg, then gently fold in the flour. Add just enough milk to give a dropping consistency.
- Spoon the sponge mixture over the apple and quince.
- To make the crumble, mix the flour, oats, sugar, margarine and spice to give a soft, crumbly mixture. Scatter over the sponge.
- Bake the apple & quince pudding at 180C for around 45 minutes until cooked and golden. Serve hot, warm or cold.
Notes
You might also enjoy this plum and almond crumble cake, this lokshen pudding with apple, or these delicious ‘cherry’ slices – no cherries required!
I’m entering this very autumnal dessert into Simple and in Season, hosted this month by Feeding Boys, and organised by Ren at renbehan.com.
Katie Bryson (@cookingkt)
Lovely fruity comforting pudding you have there – the perfect entry for Simple and in Season! I love quinces – I think they look prehistoric somehow. I made some lovely quince jelly last year which was divine.
FFF
I’ve never thought of quinces as prehistoric, although they do seem to belong to another era. Jolly delicious though!
lucyparissi
I like the sound of this almost as much as I like making up new words. Viva Le Spomble! Thanks for linking to #CookBlogShare