Kumquat Tian

Recipe From What's For Lunch, Honey?

Ingredients

For the Pate Sablee:

2 medium-sized egg yolks at room temperature

6 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon; 2.8 oz; 80 grams

½ teaspoon granulated sugar vanilla extract

¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams ice cold, cubed Unsalted butter

1/3 teaspoon; 2 grams Salt

1.5 cup + 2 tablespoons; 7 oz; 200 grams All-purpose flour

1 teaspoon; 4 grams baking powder

Method

1. Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

2. In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor.

3. Process until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogenous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

   1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C (350 F).

4. Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle.

5. Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.

Ingredients

For the Kumquat Fruit Pulp:

350g kumquats

1-2 tablespoons muscovado sugar

Method

1. Blanch the kumquats in some water for a few minutes. Then drain. Fill the saucepan with more water and bring to a boil.

2. Place the kumquats in the saucepan and cook until the citrus fruit are fairly soft approx. 25-30 minutes.

3. Transfer the fruit to a food processor add the sugar and give it a whizz. The pulp will be thick with bits of zest and simply delicious. If you find any pips remove them but generally the pips of a kumquat can be eaten.

4. Set aside to cool. This makes more than you will actually need but you can store it in jars and use it as a basis for several other desserts and toppings.

Ingredients

For the Quark Cream

100g whipping cream

100g quark

1 teaspoon gelatin

1 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar

1-2 tablespoons kumquat fruit pulp (recipe above)

Method

1. In a small bowl, add the gelatin and hot water, stirring well until the gelatin dissolves. Let the gelatin cool to room temperature while you make the quark-whipped cream.

2. Pour the cream into a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream.

3. Add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks.

4. Using a rubber spatula fold in the quark gently. Transfer the quark cream to a bowl and fold in the kumquat fruit pulp.

   1. [Tip: Use an ice cold bowl to make the whipped cream in. You can do this by putting your mixing bowl, cream and beater in the fridge for 20 minutes prior to whipping the cream.]

A portion of these candied thyme kumquats.

Assembling the Dessert:

Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.

Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 dessert rings onto the parchment paper/silicone.

Have the kumquat fruit pulp, quark cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.

Spoon a few spoonfuls of quark cream into the dessert rings and gently spread it so that it fills the dessert ring in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.

Then spread a few spoonfuls of fruit pulp in an even layer on top of the quark cream. .

Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring and gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.

Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10-15 minutes.

Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the dessert rings to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the dessert rings, arrange the candied thyme kumquats on top of the quark cream and spoon a few spoonfuls of syrup over the top. Serve immediately.

Food Guide

Have a browse through my Food Guide section on the sidebar. You’ll find several brilliant tips, tricks, know-hows and food facts.

You’ll find exciting tips for making perfect macarons, luscious éclairs or how to make your own homemade quark.

Want to know how to store and select apricots or the what to pay attention when buying oranges or what butter oil is? The Food Guide will reveal all!

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