Peel and cut 1 of the quinces in half horizontally and, working very quickly as they brown quite rapidly, remove the seeds and roughly chop up into small pieces. Place the small pieces of quince in a pan with the water, sugar, star anise, vanilla paste and some lemon juice. Simmer over low heat for at least 1 hour, until the syrup has thickened. (Quinces contain a lot of pectin which helps the sauce thicken).

Preheat the oven to 160˚C.

Cut the remaining 3 quinces in half. Leave the skin on but remove the seeds. Place cut side down in a small buttered deep roasting dish and pour over the quince syrup; it should come about halfway up the sides of the roasting dish. Cook for 1 hour, basting the quinces from time to time with some of the syrup. If the syrup level has reduced quite quickly, simply add some more warm water.

After about 1 hour, turn the quinces around and cook for another hour. By this stage, they should have turned a beautiful pink/red colour. The longer the cooking time, the more intense the colour becomes. The quinces are ready when they have caramelised, and are soft on the inside
but still maintain their shape.

Serve in warmed bowls with vanilla bean ice cream, mascarpone or double cream. Drizzle with more syrup from the roasting pan just before serving!

Tip: If you have any syrup left, store in a sterilized jar to serve with duck liver parfait or add to your beef or lamb gravy for some added flavour and sweetness.