Baking with Kumquats: a Pistachio Pavlova, Chocolate Financiers and a Pot of Jam

Winter in Florida makes me happy.

Bright blue skies, the possibility to wear my favorite purple scarf, lush landscape, cold breeze coming in through the windows and lots of citrus. Oh the citrus! I told you about my friend N.'s citrus trees and how I usually take the longer route to the mail box just so I can smell the lime tree on her front lawn. It's just one of the simple pleasures of life.



We started the new year with lots of pints of Florida kumquats. I think this was the first time my parents had ever seen or tasted a kumquat. "What do they taste like?", asked my mom. "Well, try one!", I told her. She looked at me in surprise wondering how she would peel such a thing. "There will be no flesh left!", she followed. So I just took one and put it in her mouth. She was taken back by the sour punch as she expected something sweeter, perhaps like a clementine, but she soon got used it.



We poached most of the kumquats in simple syrup and used them in different desserts we made throughout the days. First a pistachio pavlova with lemon curd made with N.'s fruit fresh clementines and the poached kumquats. And later, inside some gluten free chocolate financiers that were as fudgy and moist as the best brownies you have ever tasted.

Our little boy's best friend D. came over for a play date one afternoon and they loved the financiers which made me the happiest mother on earth. They wore they favorite costumes, as always and covered their mouths in chocolate. Spiderman and the princess. Never fails.

We used the rest of the two pints of kumquats to make a marmalade that is out of this world. It reminded me of the bitter orange marmalade I use to eat in London every morning for breakfast.



I hope everyone had a great start to the new year and that you are sticking to your resolutions. I certainly did as I broke a new record. Yes, I will confess. I fell asleep at 8pm on New Year's Eve while I was lying in bed nursing M. We both fell asleep comfortably under a cozy blanket. So peacefully.



Pistachio Baked Meringue

makes 6 small pavlovas

155 grams egg whites
pinch of salt
155 grams sugar
155 grams powdered sugar, sifted
35 grams chopped pistachios

Place the egg whites with the pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Whip until peaks start forming. Slowly sprinkle in the sugar. Whip for 2 minutes until shiny and stiff.

Combine the sifted powdered sugar and the chopped pistachios and fold them into the meringue base.

Make six mounts of meringue on a sheet pan lined with parchment. Bake at 225F for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 min.

Poached Kumquats

300 grams sugar
300 grams water
1 pint of kumquats

Blanch the kumquats in boiling water 3 times using clean water every time.

Make a simple syrup by boiling the sugar and water together until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to low and add the kumquats. Simmer them on low heat with the lid half on for about 20 minutes or until soft.

Store them in the poaching liquid in the refrigerator.

Lemon Curd

100 grams eggs
50 grams sugar
100 grams lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
50 grams butter

Whisk the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and zest in a medium bowl. Place this over a water bath and cook until it thickens. Strain the curd through a fine sieve. Let it cool slightly.

Add the room temperature butter one teaspoon at a time and blend using a submersion mixer. Let it set in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.

Gluten Free Kumquat and Chocolate Financier

120 grams egg whites
125 grams sugar
100 grams almond flour
15 grams cocoa powder
pinch of salt
150 grams brown butter, cooled
Poached kumquats

Mix the whites and the sugar with a hand whisk. Add the almond flour, cocoa powder and pinch of salt. Add the cooled brown butter and whisk until well combined. Let it rest in the refrigerator overnight or at least 4 hours.

Pipe the batter into molds and place half a poached kumquat on top. Bake at 350F for about 8 minutes or until done.

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Baking with Kumquats: a Pistachio Pavlova, Chocolate Financiers and a Pot of Jam

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Winter, Florida Citrus and a Friend's Tree

As we were browsing through the weather channel today, we realized that the rest of the country was covered in snow or temperatures way below zero degrees. In the meantime, we are breaking record heat and walking around in sandals. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing as I spend six months out of the year anticipating the cool and sunny winter weather of South Florida. This year, the nice weather has been eluding us and I wish I could trade spots with some of you who are enjoying hot chocolate in front of a cozy fireplace.

On the other hand, we get this. Beautiful citrus fruit. I cannot complain, that's for sure. My friend N. down the street has a large lime tree in her front yard that produces more fruit than she can keep up with and she was kind enough to share some with us.

Candied kumquats, lime sorbet, clementine financiers, fruit salads... they are all in the works in our kitchen... and it smells like citrus heaven.

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Winter, Florida Citrus and a Friend's Tree

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Blood Orange, Key Lime and Kumquat Sorbet

Inspired by all the citrus available and the color palettes for spring, I started a crazy sorbet making spree last week. I made sorbet of all fruit I encountered at the store and we have been enjoying the refreshing treats every afternoon. All this abundant fruit makes me very happy.

I know many of you are in the dead of winter, surrounded by snow and frigid temperatures, but I can have ice cream and sorbet all year round regardless of the temperature outside. In fact, we have been experiencing some chilly temperatures as well, but not even that is enough to keep me away from the freezer.




The combination of theses three sorbets is almost like a symphony of color and taste. I know, I know, it sounds cheesy when I say it that way, but it's true. There are different levels of sour in these sorbets and they compliment each other very well.

Squeezing the tiny key limes one after another took its time, but it was so worth it. The flavor is so pungent, sour and vibrant. The sorbet is by far the most sour of them all, but it balances out perfectly the sweetness of the kumquat sorbet, which is the "mildest" of the bunch.

Blood oranges must have the most special color of all the fruit and once turned into sorbet, it turns into this bubblegum pink that not even C could resist. This was my favorite sorbet of the three, not too sweet not too sour. So here is to sorbet in the middle of winter!



Kumquat Sorbet

400 grams kumquat puree
600 grams simple syrup (50% water and 50% sugar)

Whisk together the kumquat puree and simple syrup and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours. Churn in ice cream machine.

Kumquat Puree

800 grams kumquats
Water to cover, 3 batches

Place kumquats in a medium saucepan and add enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil. Drain the kumquats and repeat the process two more times with fresh water every time. This removes some of the bitterness from the fruit.

Place the cooked kumquats in the food processor or a blender and puree. Strain the puree through a fine sieve. You should get about 400 grams of kumquat puree.

Key Lime Sorbet

480 grams simple syrup (50% water and 50% sugar)
420 grams key lime juice

Combine both components and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours. Churn in ice cream machine and freeze.

Blood Orange Sorbet

This sorbet uses ingredients that might be difficult to get for some of you, but the resulting sorbet has great texture and mouth feel. If you prefer, you could follow the same recipe as for the key lime sorbet but using the blood orange juice instead.

250 grams blood orange juice
110 grams sugar
2 grams sorbet stabilizer
60 grams atomized glucose
200 grams water

Place water in a saucepan and heat slightly. Add the atomized glucose, whisk and bring to a boil. Mix the sugar and the sorbet stabilizer in a bowl and add to the boiling syrup. Whisk and return syrup to a boil. Remove from heat.

Refrigerate the syrup for at least 4 hours. Add the blood orange juice to the syrup and churn in ice cream machine. Freeze.

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Candied Kumquat and Pistachio Financiers

Citrus season is in full bloom here in Florida and you will be seeing a lot of it in this blog. Tangelos, grapefruits, navels, key limes, kumquats... all of it. After several weeks of chocolate, big dinners and over-indulging, I am so excited to be making lighter and more refreshing desserts. Just the colors alone can lift up anyone's mood and kumquats are particularly beautiful to look at. It's almost like nature knows we are in great need of a good detox right after the holidays.

Kumquats are small with a sweet skin and very tart flesh and for those of you who have never tasted them, you will be surprised to know that they are eaten whole, skin and all. They are filled with tons of seeds so I find that the skin is often times more appetizing than the flesh itself and they are perfect for candying.




My 2 1/2 year old son has been helping me around the kitchen lately. As soon as he sees me take out eggs out of the refrigerator, he brings over his step stool and says "I want to help". It is so adorable... We worked on a simple chocolate cake together a few days ago and I will share those photos with you soon.

Financiers are so so simple to make that I thought they were the perfect little cakes to make with him. He got on his step stool, helped me weigh and mix the ingredients and felt like it was the biggest accomplishment of his life. The following day when I baked them, he stuffed about three in his mouth and couldn't stop eating them. Just priceless. So if you have children, I encourage you to bake with them. It can be great fun.



I also want to apologize for the overuse of pistachios in this blog, but I just cannot help myself. They make everything so much better...

Candied Kumquats

100 grams sugar
100 grams water
1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeded
1 pint of kumquats

Bring some water to a boil in a small saucepan (enough to cover the kumquats) and add the kumquats. Blanch them for about 30 seconds and drain them. Discard the water. Repeat the process two more times. This will eliminate any bitterness from the kumquats.

Make a simple syrup with the first three ingredients by bringing them to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the blanched kumquats and simmer for about 15 minutes in low heat. You can drain them, let them dry and coat them in sugar or you can store them in the simple syrup in the refrigerator.

Pistachio Financier

120 grams egg whites
125 grams sugar
Zest of half a lemon
55 grams flour
25 grams almond meal
30 grams pistachio meal
150 grams unsalted butter, browned and strained, cooled

Cook the butter in a small saucepan until it starts to foam and dark particles start to form on the bottom of the pan. It will smell nutty. Strain the butter and let it cool.

Whisk the first six ingredients together in a bowl. Slowly add the brown butter and whisk until it is incorporated. Let the batter rest in the refrigerator overnight.

Pipe batter into silicon mold, top with candied kumquat and bake at 375F for about 10 minutes or until golden. Time will vary depending on the size of the mold.

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