This recipe is from Anna Gare’s cookbook “Homemade”. It’s the second time I bake this CUMQUAT CAKE. The first time I made it, it tasted very bitter and I couldn’t taste the macadamias, which was a bit of a waste considering they are so expensive to buy. But some friends tried it and really liked it. Maybe because they like marmalade and the bitterness associated with it. So I adjusted the recipe to my liking and bingo, much better.
So here is the original recipe and below, I will tell you what I did to make it edible to my palate.
250g cumquats, cut in half and seeded
3 eggs
150g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons self-raising flour
200g macadamia nuts, ground to meal consistency
100g shredded coconut
icing sugar for dusting
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Blend the cumquats in a food processor until they are minced.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar together until creamy.
- Add the minced cumquats and the remaining ingredients to the egg and sugar cream. Stir the mixture until the ingredients are well combined.
- Pour the cake mixture into an 18cm lined cake tin.
- Bake in the oven, onto the centre shelf, for about 40 minutes, or until it is just firm.
- When the cake is cool, dust with icing sugar.
- Eat!
It’s a very easy recipe, cooks well and the top gets this little crunchy macaroony taste.
The recipe also suggests a cumquat syrup to serve with the cake but I didn’t make it, neither did I dust with icing sugar.
So, to get rid of the bitter taste, I blanched the cumquats in boiling water for about 5 minutes before cutting them in half and removing the pips (boil water in a saucepan; add the cumquats and boil). I also used almond meal instead of the macadamias. And I baked the cake in a 20cm square cake tin.
Very nice now!
May be worth trying with limes.
