candied cumquats

I thought I was special.

A few weekends ago I saw cumquats on sale for a meagre AUD$5 per kg (A$5 = US$3.80, 1kg = 2.2lbs). Since these little beauties only make it to my green grocer once a year, I thought I could make a unique recipe.

I considered making one of Keiko’s amazing cumquat curd tarts but then remembered a candied cumquat recipe I had cut out of a magazine about six years ago.

Afterwards, at work, I happily showed off photos of my glace treats only to hear a colleague tell me she’d made cumquat marmalade a few weeks ago.

Still not perturbed, I proudly planned to blog about my little cooking foray until I saw that one of my favourite bloggers, Haalo, had also made cumquat marmalade and she’d beat me to the post! Worse, her addition of Cointreau and a vanilla pod put my plain concoction to shame.

I was crushed. Devastated! Surely I was the only one?

Devastation turned to rage. How can so many people be cooking the same thing at the same time!?!? This is madness!

Flash forward a few days and I have since had time to come to the realisation that I’m not special and that I wasn’t the first person, nor obviously the last, to make some sort of gooey sweetness out of cute little cumquats.

I have decided to post my photos and recipe regardless, to reveal how the cumquat cheated on me. Perhaps we can all learn from my innocence and ignorance.

Candied Cumquats

My own recipe yields two products.
1) candied/glace cumquats
2) cumquat jelly

The aim of the recipe was to create candied cumquats, but their juices leached out during the cooking process and formed a wonderful, flavoursome jelly.

Take a few of the candied cumquats and dice them up, then mix them through the jelly to create more of a fruity marmalade.

With the rest, dip the candied cumquats in good quality dark chocolate for a perfect sweet nibble.

Candied Cumquats
SMH recipe. Author unknown.
Ingredients:
3 cups cumquats
3 cups sugar
3 cups water
Method:
1. Place cumquats and water in saucepan. Boil for 30 minutes.
2. Add sugar and boil for another 10 minutes.
3. Turn heat off. Leave overnight.
4. Next day bring mixture to the boil, but be careful not to burn.
5. When it starts to bubble, remove from heat and leave fruit in the syrup until cool.