Cumquat recipes

Cumquat Recipes below – best recipe is for dark chocolate cake with cumquats and it’s in the August 2009 issue of the Burke’s Backyard magazine

Tracy Rutherford's Spiced Cumquats 

• 1kg cumquats

• 1/2 cups (330g) caster sugar

• 1/2 cup (125mL) water

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 6 lightly crushed cardamom pods

• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds

• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1. Halve the cumquats lengthways and prise out any pips. Combine the sugar, water and cumquats in a large saucepan and stir over low heat, without boiling, until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Add the spices, stir to combine. Cover and bring to the boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat slightly and simmer for 10 minutes. Spoon into sterilised jars (2 x 500mL or 4 x 250mL) and seal tightly. Store in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months. Refrigerate after opening, and use within 6 weeks.
Note: these are great with roast duck or pork.

Cumquat Marmalade

• 2 cups cumquats, washed and sliced
• 2 cups water
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cups sugar

* If you have a bumper crop of cumquats, double the quantities.

1. Wash and slice fruit finely and remove seeds (but don’t throw the seeds away).
2. Place the fruit in a large saucepan, cover with water and soak overnight (or for around 8 hours). Put the seeds in a separate container (such as a cup) and soak in a small amount of boiling water. Leave overnight.
3. Next day strain the liquid from the seeds. Discard the seeds and add the water to the cumquats. Cook gently on a low heat until the fruit is tender and the liquid is reduced by half.
4. Add the sugar and lemon juice. When all the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat and boil rapidly until the mixture jells (around 30-45 minutes). Tip: stir often, or the marmalade will burn!
5. To test if the marmalade is jelling, spoon a little onto a cold saucer. If a skin forms, and it glazes on the surface and wrinkles when touched, it is ready. If it is still runny, boil for a little longer and test again.
6. Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal.

Cumquat brandy

• 750g cumquats
• 500g caster sugar
• 750mL bottle brandy
• sterilised 1-litre sealable jar

Wash and dry the cumquats, the prick each of them several times with a fine skewer or needle.

Combine the sugar with 500ml of brandy and stir well until the sugar has dissolved in the brandy.

Place the cumquats in the jar, then pour in the sugar/brandy syrup. This amount should fill the jar close to the brim, but if not top it up with more brandy. Seal the jar and place in a dry dark place, such as a cupboard. For the first week, turn over the jar once each day to help dissolve the sugar. Then, after that, turn over the jar once a week to keep on mixing things up. The whole thing should be ready in three months. The idea is that you can eat the cumquats and drink the brandy, too!

For a sweeter result, use more sugar, but don’t use less. The cumquats are fairly tart, so they’ll be hard to eat with less sugar used.

Cumquat cooking ideas

Just as people enjoy a slice of lemon with black tea, try a slice of cumquat instead, and experiment with different teas. I like a slice of cumquat with Twinings Darjeeling tea.

Cumquats will go well with those meats which like a sweet sauce, such as duck, pork or chicken. If you’re making up a barbecue marinade for these meats, try slicing in a few cumquats and see what happens to the flavour!

If you’re making a stuffing for a roast chicken or turkey, finely chop one or two cumquats to add these to the stuffing mix, but offset the tartness of the cumquats with something sweeter, such as chopped apple or pear.

Copyright 2008 CTC Productions