Recently we visited a friend’s particularly beautiful property situated by the Apennines between Barga and Coreglia Antelminelli. It has a plot size of 80,000 square metres, five bedrooms with five bathrooms, 100 square metres of parking space and heating which ranges from wood, photovoltaic, solar and GPL

This property is in effect, three houses for the price of one. It’s in immaculate condition and it’s for sale at an asking price which wouldn’t even buy you an undistinguished semi-detached in not a very good condition in an ordinary London borough in zone 4.

It has been a hard decision for the owner to arrive at, especially since so much love and work has been expended on ‘Grifoglia’ – the name of the house suggesting ‘quadrifoglio’, or four leafed clover, which traditionally brings luck and also has an Irish connection.

The property is fully described at

http://www.italianpropertygallery.com/property/casa-grifoglia/

And one can also read trip-advisor notices about staying at Grifoglia at

https://www.tripadvisor.it/ShowUserReviews-g654703-d296303-r47626030-Grifoglia-Barga_Province_of_Lucca_Tuscany.html

There’s a nice video of Grifoglia at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBSMPDvS09g

And, of course, a facebook page at

https://www.facebook.com/grifoglia/

Do also look at the blogspot at

http://grifoglia.blogspot.com/

During our visit we were able to collect some magnificently sized quinces useful for making jelly. (Quince in Italian is ‘mela cotogna’ and the tree bearing the fruit is called ‘cotogno’.)

The house, which comes with a swimming pool, would be most suitable for agriturismo or farmhouse holidays and would be particularly attractive for those persons with a strong ecological leaning.

Mentioning quinces here is our favourite recipe for making quince crumble cake:

Ingredients

For the quince puree

• 1kg quinces, cored and roughly chopped
• 175g caster sugar
• zest and juice ½ lemon
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp cornflour

For the pastry

• 140g butter, diced
• 200g plain flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 75g caster sugar
• zest 1 lemon
• 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk

For the crumble topping

• 100g plain flour
• 75g rolled oats
• 75g caster sugar
• 140g butter, diced

Method

1. To make the quince purée, put the quinces into a large pan with 350 ml water. Cover with a lid and simmer for 1 hr or until the quinces change colour and are pulpy. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly, then whizz with a stick blender until smooth. Pass the quince purée through a sieve into a clean pan and stir in the sugar, lemon zest and juice, and cinnamon. Cook the purée until it is reduced by one-third, then mix the cornflour with a little water and stir into the purée until it’s thick. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
2. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. To make the pastry, rub the butter into the flour and almonds. Add the sugar and zest, then the egg and the egg yolk. Bring everything together, wrap in cling film and chill for 15 mins.
3. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to line a 22cm tart tin. Place in the tin, trim the edges of the pastry if required, and chill for 15 mins. Line the pastry with baking parchment and baking beans, then bake blind for 20 mins. Remove the beans and paper, then cook for a further 15 mins until the base is biscuity. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
4. Increase oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Meanwhile, to make the crumble topping, mix the flour, oats and sugar with a pinch of salt, then rub in the butter until you have an uneven crumbly mix.
5. To assemble the tart, pour the quince purée into the tart shell so it comes just below the top, sprinkle over the crumble topping and cook for 25-30 mins or until the crumble is golden and the quince is bubbling around the edges. Serve warm with cream or custard if you like.

As soon as it’s out of the oven we’ll post our photo of the result here. Meanwhile, here are some pictures we took of this astoundingly charming Grifoglia: