Tangy Kumquat Tea Cakes . . . (Yes, Kumquats Really Do Exist!)

My son Nathan has a pal named Gabe, who was at our house one afternoon this week after school. The two of them were in the kitchen foraging for snacks when Gabe spotted a small container of what looked to be Barbie-doll sized oranges on the kitchen counter. According to Nathan, who was the only witness to his comment, Gabe said in mock amazement, "No. Nooo. You mean kumquats really exist??"

Yes, Gabe, they really do. And though you might not want to just pop one in your mouth and chomp down on it unless you're seriously into puckering, they are awfully good after being sliced, seeded, and undergoing a leisurely simmer in sugar water. Plus, they're so darn cute. A petite box of kumquats is about as appealing as a basket of warm kittens. You just can't resist picking one up and gently examining it. You won't want to put it down, and you'll definitely feel compelled to show it to someone else. Yes, a kumquat is its own little conversation piece.

A relatively scarce fruit around here, as far as common usage goes, I have to admit I've never before used a recipe that featured them, and never even particularly bothered to find out what the heck to do with them until now. But, I think it's safe to say I'm a newly minted member of the tiny fruit's fan club.

About this recipe . . . 

Adapted from a gluten-free formula found on Tartelette--without question one of the loveliest food blogs around--I made a few minor changes. Note, though, that my version is not gluten-free. (As my favorite cake-decorating teacher, Chef Lois, recently remarked, "I'm all about gluten." Quite obviously, I share that sentiment.)

Tartelette's recipe called for millet flour and almond flour. Mine, instead, uses a combo of all-purpose flour, a bit of spelt flour, and almond flour. Tartelette baked her cakes in financier pans, a muffin-type pan with rectangular cavities shaped like gold ingots (thus the moneyed name). I have no financier pans, so I baked mine in twelve small brioche tins.

These little cakes are moist, just sweet enough, and the flavor of the kumquats is definitely present without being overwhelming. My husband, who I thought might show lukewarm interest, gave these two enthusiastic thumbs up.

Tangy Kumquat Tea Cakes

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and lightly flour (or use baking spray on) twelve small brioche, financier, or muffin tins.

Ingredients for batter:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, unbleached
1/4 cup spelt flour (if you don't have spelt, just use all-purpose)
1 cup almond flour (aka almond meal/finely ground blanched almonds)
1 pinch of kosher salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 and 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar (not necessary to sift, but I'd whisk/pinch out any big lumps)
4 large eggs

1/3 to 1/2 cup kumquat compote (recipe below)
About 2 Tbsp. sanding sugar or granulated sugar, if you prefer, to sprinkle atop the unbaked cakes

Ingredients for kumquat compote:
1 cup of clean, ripe kumquats, seeded and sliced

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water

To make the compote:
Heat the sliced, seeded kumquats slowly in a medium sauce-pan with the sugar and water over medium heat, stirring periodically, until the mixture just comes to a boil and the sugar is dissolved. Lower the heat and simmer until the kumquats appear translucent (you'll know it when you see it); this might take 15 minutes or so.

Put all of the kumquats into a small bowl with only about 1/4 cup of the sugar syrup (the rest of the syrup can be discarded or saved in the fridge to use for another project). Refrigerate until cool, then puree by pulsing in the small bowl of your food processor. The puree will still contain visible pieces of peel and that's what you want, sort of like marmalade. Set this aside as you begin to prepare the batter.

To make the batter:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, spelt flour, almond flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In the large bowl of your mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar on medium speed for a few minutes (start on low for several seconds so the sugar doesn't fly all over), until just fluffy. Pour the eggs in one at a time, mixing thoroughly for a minute or so after each addition and stopping to scrape as needed.

On low speed, add in the flours and mix only until combined--about 30 seconds or so.

Take the bowl off the mixer and use a spatula to fold in three quarters of the kumquat compote; reserve one quarter of the compote.

Portion the batter evenly into your prepared tins and dab a bit of the reserved compote on top of each one. If you like, sprinkle a generous pinch of sanding sugar or granulated sugar over that.

Bake the cakes for about 15 minutes, or until they're lightly golden and the sides have begun to pull away from the tins. Let them cool a few minutes in their tins before removing them from the pans to a cooling rack.

Sprinkle the cakes lightly with confectioners' sugar when cool. Best if eaten the first two days.

(If you'd like to comment on this post, or to read any existing comments, please click on the purple COMMENTS below.)

Banana Cake-Bars with Dark Chocolate Chips (Still Lovin' that Spelt Flour!)

Given that I've been cozying up to the delicate sweetness of spelt flour lately, I thought it was high time to post another recipe that makes use of it. (My maiden voyage with spelt can be found here, in case you're interested.) Though spelt flour is made from the whole grain, it bears only slight resemblance, in my opinion, to whole wheat flour in terms of flavor and texture. I think it may be the golden ticket for home bakers who aren't completely thrilled at the idea of sweets containing any whole grain flour, yet who want to begin incorporating healthier flours into at least a few of their baked goods. It works really well mixed in with unbleached white flour, and I figure that's the best jumping off point. Give it a whirl on a small scale before you fully commit.

Bite into one of these treats and, from the texture angle, you won't even be able to tell that they're not made entirely with white flour. In fact, these banana cake-bars are so cakey I really couldn't get away with calling them just banana bars. These guys are more like soft little cake slices. With fragile golden crumbs that tumble off here and there when you pick them up, they cry out for clean white napkins and big tumblers of ice cold milk. They'll do those ripe bananas proud.

About this recipe . . .

I adapted this from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking: Delicious Recipes Using Nutritious Whole Grains. This was the first whole grain baking book I ever really liked. I've baked from it many times, and most of the results have been surprisingly good. I've noticed that many of the older whole-grain baking cookbooks out there, from past decades, often include formulas for almost concrete-like breads, cookies, and cakes. I'm relieved we're finally seeing a lighter approach in volumes like this one, and in Good to the Grain, which has a whole chapter devoted to baking with spelt.

The original recipe called for semi-sweet chips but, honestly, I think that would have made them too sweet. Plus, I'm a maniac for dark chocolate so I used that instead. I also substituted canola oil for butter, I drastically reduced the amount of cinnamon and nutmeg and, as noted above, I used a mixture of white and spelt flour instead of using spelt alone.

My kids really liked these, which I must admit kind of surprised me. Nathan (the now-15-year old), who is always my willing guinea pig whenever I bake something new, adored them. I thought the boys would become uninterested the second they heard the word spelt come from my mouth, but it didn't phase them. In my house, that's a meaningful seal of approval.

Banana Cake-Bars 
with Dark Chocolate Chips (and Spelt Flour!)
(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Yield: Makes one 9" x 13" pan; 24 - 2" squares.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9" x 13" pan.
(Just fyi: I mixed this recipe entirely by hand. Gave my mixer the day off!) 


3/4 cup canola oil
1 and 1/4 cups light or dark brown sugar, packed (I used light.)
3 medium size bananas, very ripe, well mashed
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. coarse kosher salt
1 large pinch ground cinnamon
1 large pinch ground nutmeg
1 egg, large
1 cup spelt flour
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups dark chocolate, small chips or chopped bar chocolate (I used a combo of both.)


Stir the oil and the sugar together well in a large bowl. Beat in the bananas, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Add in the egg, stirring vigorously. Stop to scrape the bowl with a spatula now and then.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt, and spices. Add to the liquid mixture and blend thoroughly. Pour the batter into the greased pan. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes (this direction allows the flour to absorb some of the moisture a thicken a bit). Sprinkle your chocolate evenly over the top. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. Cool the finished bars in their pan on a rack. They're best when allowed to rest overnight, in the pan, covered. (They stay fresh for at least two days and I actually thought the flavor had improved the second day.)

(If you'd like to comment on this post, or to read any existing comments, please click on the purple COMMENTS below!)

Spelt Scones with Dried Tropical Fruit . . . Taking Spelt for a Spin!

I wasn't sure just how I was going to feel about these scones, never having used spelt before, but I'm  pleased to report that they exceeded all of my expectations. Strange word, spelt. What the heck is it anyway? Sounds like something you'd find piled on the ground in a greenhouse, doesn't it? "Just dump that load of spelt over there, right next to the cedar mulch."

The first thing one tends to hear about spelt flour, it seems to me, is that it's an ancient grain dating back to the 5th millennium BC and, secondly, that it's quite nutritious. Made from the whole grain, spelt flour is uniquely mild and subtly sweet. It works well in recipes mixed with some white flour, and it doesn't add nearly the same heaviness as typical whole-grain wheat flour.

Spelt's flavor doesn't come on strong. If regular whole wheat flour struts up to your taste buds like a muddy paratrooper, spelt flour saunters up slowly, like a waiter in a white jacket who doesn't want to interrupt the conversation.

I actually made two slightly different batches of scones using this recipe. First, the wedge-shaped scones that are pictured with chopped, dried, tropical fruits (kiwi, mango, papaya, and pineapple; I didn't end up liking the taste of the dried star-fruit, so I left that one out).

And then, pictured below, I made a  softer dough (I added in a bit more cream) to make drop scones; for those I used only dried, sweet, Michigan (of course!) cherries. I brushed cream on the top of all the unbaked scones and sprinkled them with sanding sugar. Both varieties were very good. All of my males (that would be the hubby, the almost-15-year-old, and the 18-year-old) liked them a lot.

Like all scones--well, all the scones I've ever had the pleasure to meet--these are definitely best the first day, as they tend to dry out quickly. Second day, they benefit from being warmed before serving. Warmth revives them.

About this recipe . . .

From the 2010 book, Good to the Grain, by Kim Boyce, this recipe is one of many from that source I'd love to try. Cleverly organized by flour type, it recently won the James Beard Award in the baking and dessert book category. I changed the recipe slightly (it originally included only currants, and wasn't patted out and baked in wedges, among other things), and reworded it to reflect exactly what I did.


Spelt Scones with Dried Tropical Fruit (Kiwi, Mango, Papaya, and Pineapple)

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Yield: 8 or more good-sized pieces, formed either as wedges (cut pie-style) or as drop scones

1 and 1/4 cups spelt flour (I used Bob's Red Mill brand.) 
1 cup all-purpose flour, unbleached
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar (Doesn't sound like much, but the sugar on the dried fruit, along with the fruit itself, lends sweetness as well.) 
1/2 tsp. coarse kosher salt

2 oz. cold unsalted butter (1/2 of one stick), cut into 1/2" chunks
1/2 cup (Or add a little more if you like!) mixture of chopped, dried, tropical fruits (I used chopped, dried kiwi, mango, papaya, and pineapple; or, try sweet dried cherries instead.)
1 and 1/2 cups heavy cream, plus a couple extra tablespoons for brushing on the unbaked scones

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, sift together the first five ingredients, putting back into the bowl anything that didn't sift through (like, perhaps, some of the kosher salt).

Toss the cold butter chunks into the bowl, and begin pinching the butter into the dry mix with your fingertips. Keep doing this until it's the texture of fine cornmeal (Or, if you're squeamish, do this with a hand-held pastry blender, or even an old-fashioned potato masher. I've done it all three ways for scones, and it always works!) 

Pour in all of the dried fruit and stir it in evenly. Make a well in the center and, if you want your dough to be quite moist for drop scones pour in all of the cream.

If you want your dough to be slightly firmer in order to pat out a circle and make wedges, hold back 3 to 4 Tbsp. of the heavy cream.

Stir just until the dry mixture is more or less evenly moistened.

For drop scones, simply drop 8 large spoonfuls onto your parchment covered baking sheet, being sure to leave adequate space between each one. (No need to tidy up each "drop" but you certainly can if you wish. Might want to flour your fingers first.) For wedge scones, first dust a sheet of parchment lightly with flour. Plop the entire amount of thick, doughy batter onto the center of the parchment, and flour your hands well. Pat the dough into a circle about 10" in diameter.

Using a sharp pizza/pastry wheel (or a very sharp chef's knife) dipped first in flour, quickly cut the circle into 8 wedges, pie fashion.

Using a thin metal spatula if needed, gently lift each wedge and place it evenly on the parchment lined baking sheet.

Using a pastry brush, lightly brush heavy cream onto the tops of the scones and then sprinkle them with coarse/sanding sugar (granulated sugar will do fine as well, but the coarser sugars look more sparkly once baked). 

Bake the scones at 400 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or so, until the scones are golden on top and bottom.

Let them cool a few minutes on a rack before diving in. (Excellent served warm with butter--you heard it from me.) Best eaten the day they're made.

(If you'd like to comment on this post, or to read any existing comments, click on the purple COMMENTS below!)