My neighbor has a kumquat tree and this year it is bent over with hundreds of kumquats. So she has been giving them away right and left. I decided I’d take a whole bunch and see what kinds of things I could make with them.
In order to make anything with the kumquats, one has to cut them up and remove the seeds. Cutting them in half makes removing the seeds easy. One thing you should know about kumquats is the skin is the sweet part whereas the pith and inner part is more sour.
For many recipes you want to puree the kumquats. I have a nice Ninja blender which excels at this. Once you have the puree you can use it in your recipes. The first recipe I made with the puree was kumquat pecan bread.
Next I decided to make kumquat marmalade. This recipe didn’t want a puree but rather cut up pieces. So I quartered the kumquats, removed some of the pith and the seeds. Then I soaked the quarters in water and sugar for 4 hours before cooking the mixture down.
Today, I decided to try a recipe for a kumquat tart. The hardest part of this recipe is making sure the custard doesn’t scorch. The keys to this are to make sure the eggs are room temperature and to whisk the mixture constantly while it cooks. Additionally, it takes quite a bit of time to put the mixture through the sieve. You need to patient and make sure you have a bowl your sieve fits in nicely so you don’t have to hold it for a long time.
The final product is super tart and tasty. I took a piece to my neighbor who gave it high marks. I’m considering making a second batch as a pure custard or creme brulee rather than a tart.