If I could only have one fruit for the rest of my life, it’d be the orange.
Think about it — it’s food and juice. It’s sweet and tart. You can candy the peel or spritz it into a cocktail. The pith adds a welcome bitterness if you want to change it up.
Kumquats are like super-charged oranges, which make them perfect as pops of contrasting flavor in a rich cake. Because you can eat the skin, you get the bitterness along with juice, sweet, and tart.
To me, kumquat is a very adult flavor because of its mouth-puckering flavors. Adult taste, adult beverage, so I added a healthy dose of Grand Marnier to soak the kumquats. Rosemary amps up the somewhat savory notes of kumquat and adds a lovely aroma — if the kumquats and booze weren’t doing that already.
RECIPE
1 3/4 cup kumquats
1/2 cup Grand Marnier
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of kosher salt
1 1/2 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
6 sprigs rosemary
Thinly slice the kumquats and add to a medium bowl. Pour the Grand Marnier over them and allow to soak. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch bundt pan.
Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. Reduce mixer speed to low and add one-third of the flour, then half the yogurt, then one-third the flour, then the rest of the yogurt, then the rest of the flour. Add kumquats and Grand Marnier.
Gently pour into prepared Bundt pan and smooth out top, careful not to the smoosh the fluffiness. Bake for 60 minutes, rotating midway.
Remove cake from oven and immediately start making glaze. Mash three sprigs of rosemary with the lemon juice. Strain, then add infused juice to powdered sugar. Mix thoroughly. You will think you need more liquid, but you don’t. Keep mixing until you reach a stiff but still fluid consistency. Invert Bundt pan onto wire rack on top of a baking sheet (to catch the dripping glaze). Immediately pour glaze on top and top with the rest of your crushed rosemary. The cake must be glazed while the cake is hot, so work fast!
