My refrigerator fruit drawer is currently so packed with citrus fruit that I have great difficulty closing it. It takes about 3 tries to actually get the drawer to slide correctly from all the weight of blood oranges, clementines, tangerines, grapefruit and kumquats. It seems about time that I actually do something other than just devour the citrus fruit family, so I decided to actually bake with some.
I’d been eyeing some kumquats for some time in our local natural foods store and finally picked some up a few weeks back. I found a recipe that intrigued me with the tangy flavor combination of tea, cardamom, pineapple and kumquat. The tea flavoring was fairly subtle, so I’ve adjusted the recipe a little to make the flavor more pronounced. This is a bread that could easily pass for a cake. That’s the best kind, isn’t it? The kind you can justify eating for both breakfast and dessert.
Kumquat Tea Bread
- adapted from Bon Appétit
makes 2 loaves
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Ingredients
kumquat tea bread
- 2 cups kumquats, stemmed, quartered, seeded; plus 4 kumquats, thinly sliced
- 1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2-3 teaspoons instant iced tea powder (optional)
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 1-1/4 cups pure cane sugar
- 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple in its own juice
- 1 cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
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kumquat glaze
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon instant iced tea powder (optional)
- water, if needed
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Directions
make the kumquat tea bread
Place quartered kumquats in processor; puree 3 minutes. Reserve 1/3 cup puree for glaze.
Preheat to 350 degrees. Spray two loaf pans with nonstick spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, tea powder, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Using an electric mixer, blend 1 1/4 cups sugar and oil. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition. Then, mix in vanilla, 2/3 cup kumquat puree and pineapple with juice. Gradually add dry ingredients, beating just until blended. Do not over mix. Fold in walnuts. Divide batter between loaf pans.
Bake bread until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes-1 hour. Cool 5 minutes, then turn bread out on rack, top side up. Cool completely.
make the kumquat glaze
Place reserved 1/3 cup puree in large bowl. Whisk in butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt. If glaze is too thick, thin by whisking in a little water. Drizzle glaze over bread loaves. Top with kumquat slices. Let stand until icing sets. Store at room temperature.
13 Comments
mara – the photography looks bon appétit-worthy! yum.
The iced tea powder sounds so different, seems like just the snack when you have friends over just to chat. Like tea… except its in a bread/cake… which is better.
I’ve been hearing about people using kumquats for baking a lot lately! I’ve never thought to use them this way, but it seems inevitable that I must give this a try. While it’s the only way I’ve ever had them, I love just popping the little balls of sweet and sourness right into my mouth. So good.
They are really good to eat whole. I just couldn’t resist baking with them, they’re pretty cute.
Beautiful photos and what a delicious-looking bread! I’ve never actually usesd kumquats before but I just can’t wait to try out this recipe!
wow!
Hello!
Just wanted to stop by and pass along an award to you! Hope you are enjoying your lovely Sunday
http://une-deuxsenses.blogspot.com/2010/03/kreativ-blogger-award.html
Michelle
Thank you for the award Michelle!
Beautiful! Those kumquats are so cute.
I like kumquat.But i eat it as a fruit.
Hello Mara! I am a big fan of kumquats and my husband finally bought a small tree. I hope to have a nice harvest this year so I can try this recipe!
BTW – I’m a friend of Ralph Smith’s here in Houston. He said I should check out your blog. I like it!
Dragana,
Wow, I would love one of those trees, if only we had warmer weather for it. Ralph is great, thanks for checking out the blog!
Pretty pretty pretty! I like the idea of using iced tea powder in the glaze. The flavor of the powder brings back memories from my childhood. The kumquats are so cute on top!