What do you do with two pounds of kumquats? Why you make a kumquat upside-down cake, Silly. What else would you do.
No, seriously, what else would you do? I have been getting them every week in my CSA (which has been awesome), but had it not been for the lovely Huebscher, who pointed me to this recipe, those kumquats would still be sitting in my fridge.
I mean seriously, there’s only so much no-face* you can play with these tart little gems, though I have found them more bearable in the past few weeks. Plus, having a kumquat upside-down cake in my repertoire has made all the difference.
This cake, which starts in a cast iron skillet stovetop then finishes in the oven, is sweet and tart and totally delicious, a perfectly citrusy cake to make all winter long.
Fortunately, kumquats keep well in the fridge and do make a fabulous upside-down cake. That said, I wouldn’t mind exploring some other uses. My mother and I were thinking they might make a nice addition to a braised dish or a Moroccan tagine or something of the sort.
As I suspected, another little baggy of kumquats arrived in my CSA today. I will stash them away until I hear back from you.
PS: Orange and Olive Oil Cake , another favorite winter cake.
Description
1½ lbs. kumquats, halved
1 stick (4 oz | 113g) unsalted butter
¾ cup light brown sugar
3 T. honey
½ tsp . vanilla
½ tsp . salt
1 1/3 cup flour
1½ tsp . baking powder
¾ tsp . salt
1 cup ( 8 oz | 226g ) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar
5 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp . vanilla
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
- Melt butter in a large cast iron pan over medium heat. Be careful not to burn the butter. Add brown sugar and stir until mixed. Remove from heat. Add vanilla, honey and salt, and stir to combine.
- Add the fruit to caramel mixture — fit as much as you can inside. (WARNING: I used about 1½ lbs. of kumquats, and squeezed them all in. About half-way through baking, the syrup bubbled up and spilled out onto my oven floor. Smoke was everywhere. So, you can either place the kumquats in just one layer, or you could take your chances and maybe place a cookie sheet on the rack below the pan to catch any over flow.)
- Make the batter: Put softened butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating on high. Add vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add to wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined.
- Carefully spoon or pour batter over kumquats, taking caution not to disturb the fruit. Carefully smooth the batter.
- Place cake in oven on the middle rack. Bake for about 1 hour, checking after 45 minutes. Test the cake with a toothpick, making sure it is cooked in the middle. Take a butter knife and loosen edges along the pan. Put cake on a wire rack and let it cool for about 30 minutes.
- Put a large platter face down over cast iron pan and flip.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hours 5 minutes
- Category: Cake
- Method: Skillet, Oven
- Cuisine: American
*No-face: Invented circa 2001 by a Canadian hockey player, no-face is a game that requires participants to take shots of particularly offensive high-octane combinations. Whoever makes no face, wins. Kate Ling, if I recall correctly, is reigning champion.
What do you do with two pounds of kumquats? Why you make a kumquat upside-down cake, Silly. What else would you do.
No, seriously, what else would you do? I have been getting them every week in my CSA (which has been awesome), but had it not been for the lovely Huebscher, who pointed me to this recipe, those kumquats would still be sitting in my fridge.
I mean seriously, there’s only so much no-face* you can play with these tart little gems, though I have found them more bearable in the past few weeks. Plus, having a kumquat upside-down cake in my repertoire has made all the difference.
This cake, which starts in a cast iron skillet stovetop then finishes in the oven, is sweet and tart and totally delicious, a perfectly citrusy cake to make all winter long.
Fortunately, kumquats keep well in the fridge and do make a fabulous upside-down cake. That said, I wouldn’t mind exploring some other uses. My mother and I were thinking they might make a nice addition to a braised dish or a Moroccan tagine or something of the sort.
As I suspected, another little baggy of kumquats arrived in my CSA today. I will stash them away until I hear back from you.
PS: Orange and Olive Oil Cake , another favorite winter cake.
Description
1½ lbs. kumquats, halved
1 stick (4 oz | 113g) unsalted butter
¾ cup light brown sugar
3 T. honey
½ tsp . vanilla
½ tsp . salt
1 1/3 cup flour
1½ tsp . baking powder
¾ tsp . salt
1 cup ( 8 oz | 226g ) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar
5 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp . vanilla
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
- Melt butter in a large cast iron pan over medium heat. Be careful not to burn the butter. Add brown sugar and stir until mixed. Remove from heat. Add vanilla, honey and salt, and stir to combine.
- Add the fruit to caramel mixture — fit as much as you can inside. (WARNING: I used about 1½ lbs. of kumquats, and squeezed them all in. About half-way through baking, the syrup bubbled up and spilled out onto my oven floor. Smoke was everywhere. So, you can either place the kumquats in just one layer, or you could take your chances and maybe place a cookie sheet on the rack below the pan to catch any over flow.)
- Make the batter: Put softened butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating on high. Add vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add to wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined.
- Carefully spoon or pour batter over kumquats, taking caution not to disturb the fruit. Carefully smooth the batter.
- Place cake in oven on the middle rack. Bake for about 1 hour, checking after 45 minutes. Test the cake with a toothpick, making sure it is cooked in the middle. Take a butter knife and loosen edges along the pan. Put cake on a wire rack and let it cool for about 30 minutes.
- Put a large platter face down over cast iron pan and flip.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hours 5 minutes
- Category: Cake
- Method: Oven, Skillet
- Cuisine: American
*No-face: Invented circa 2001 by a Canadian hockey player, no-face is a game that requires participants to take shots of particularly offensive high-octane combinations. Whoever makes no face, wins. Kate Ling, if I recall correctly, is reigning champion.
What do you do with two pounds of kumquats? Why you make a kumquat upside-down cake, Silly. What else would you do.
No, seriously, what else would you do? I have been getting them every week in my CSA (which has been awesome), but had it not been for the lovely Huebscher, who pointed me to this recipe, those kumquats would still be sitting in my fridge.
I mean seriously, there’s only so much no-face* you can play with these tart little gems, though I have found them more bearable in the past few weeks. Plus, having a kumquat upside-down cake in my repertoire has made all the difference.
This cake, which starts in a cast iron skillet stovetop then finishes in the oven, is sweet and tart and totally delicious, a perfectly citrusy cake to make all winter long.
Fortunately, kumquats keep well in the fridge and do make a fabulous upside-down cake. That said, I wouldn’t mind exploring some other uses. My mother and I were thinking they might make a nice addition to a braised dish or a Moroccan tagine or something of the sort.
As I suspected, another little baggy of kumquats arrived in my CSA today. I will stash them away until I hear back from you.
PS: Orange and Olive Oil Cake , another favorite winter cake.
Description
1½ lbs. kumquats, halved
1 stick (4 oz | 113g) unsalted butter
¾ cup light brown sugar
3 T. honey
½ tsp . vanilla
½ tsp . salt
1 1/3 cup flour
1½ tsp . baking powder
¾ tsp . salt
1 cup ( 8 oz | 226g ) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar
5 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp . vanilla
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
- Melt butter in a large cast iron pan over medium heat. Be careful not to burn the butter. Add brown sugar and stir until mixed. Remove from heat. Add vanilla, honey and salt, and stir to combine.
- Add the fruit to caramel mixture — fit as much as you can inside. (WARNING: I used about 1½ lbs. of kumquats, and squeezed them all in. About half-way through baking, the syrup bubbled up and spilled out onto my oven floor. Smoke was everywhere. So, you can either place the kumquats in just one layer, or you could take your chances and maybe place a cookie sheet on the rack below the pan to catch any over flow.)
- Make the batter: Put softened butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating on high. Add vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add to wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined.
- Carefully spoon or pour batter over kumquats, taking caution not to disturb the fruit. Carefully smooth the batter.
- Place cake in oven on the middle rack. Bake for about 1 hour, checking after 45 minutes. Test the cake with a toothpick, making sure it is cooked in the middle. Take a butter knife and loosen edges along the pan. Put cake on a wire rack and let it cool for about 30 minutes.
- Put a large platter face down over cast iron pan and flip.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hours 5 minutes
- Category: Cake
- Method: Oven, Skillet
- Cuisine: American
*No-face: Invented circa 2001 by a Canadian hockey player, no-face is a game that requires participants to take shots of particularly offensive high-octane combinations. Whoever makes no face, wins. Kate Ling, if I recall correctly, is reigning champion.
Description
1½ lbs. kumquats, halved
1 stick (4 oz | 113g) unsalted butter
¾ cup light brown sugar
3 T. honey
½ tsp . vanilla
½ tsp . salt
1 1/3 cup flour
1½ tsp . baking powder
¾ tsp . salt
1 cup ( 8 oz | 226g ) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar
5 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp . vanilla
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
- Melt butter in a large cast iron pan over medium heat. Be careful not to burn the butter. Add brown sugar and stir until mixed. Remove from heat. Add vanilla, honey and salt, and stir to combine.
- Add the fruit to caramel mixture — fit as much as you can inside. (WARNING: I used about 1½ lbs. of kumquats, and squeezed them all in. About half-way through baking, the syrup bubbled up and spilled out onto my oven floor. Smoke was everywhere. So, you can either place the kumquats in just one layer, or you could take your chances and maybe place a cookie sheet on the rack below the pan to catch any over flow.)
- Make the batter: Put softened butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating on high. Add vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add to wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined.
- Carefully spoon or pour batter over kumquats, taking caution not to disturb the fruit. Carefully smooth the batter.
- Place cake in oven on the middle rack. Bake for about 1 hour, checking after 45 minutes. Test the cake with a toothpick, making sure it is cooked in the middle. Take a butter knife and loosen edges along the pan. Put cake on a wire rack and let it cool for about 30 minutes.
- Put a large platter face down over cast iron pan and flip.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hours 5 minutes
- Category: Cake
- Method: Oven, Skillet
- Cuisine: American
Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2009/06/03/kumquat-upside-down-cake/
Last week I found a stockpile of carrots in the vegetable bin of my fridge. Before setting to work slicing and dicing, staining my cutting board, dulling my knife, and tearing up my uncalloused hands, I paused and, for once, used my brain.
Out came the shredder attachment to my food processor and in about 30 seconds, my pound of carrots had transformed into perfect little shreds. I didn’t even peel them. After a little scrub, down the chute they went. Magic.
With prep work done, I turned to a carrot cake recipe I had saved for years. It appeared in Fine Cooking magazine in 2004 in an article called “Carrot Cake, Perfected.” Why I waited five years to give the recipe a go is beyond me. It is called Ultimate Carrot Cake for a reason. I hope you love it as much as I.
How to Make the Ultimate Carrot Cake, Step by Step
Gather your ingredients:
Place the dry ingredients in a large bowl:
Whisk them together:
No need to peel the carrots, but trim the ends away.
Shred the carrots using the shredder attachment of your food processor or a box grater:
Add them to the bowl and toss to coat:
Then add the beaten eggs and oil:
Stir together until you have a smooth batter:
Transfer to a greased and parchment-lined 9×13-inch pan or two 8-inch pans:
Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean:
Let cool completely before frosting. Meanwhile, make the frosting:
First, place cold cream cheese, sugar, and a pinch of sea salt in a stand mixer.
Beat until light and creamy:
Then add the cold heavy cream and vanilla:
Beat until thick and creamy:
Once the cake is cool, you can frost it:
Here are some old photos of the cake baked in round pans:
Description
For the cake:
- Softened butter, for the pan
- 1 lb. carrots
- 2 1/4 cups (295 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ( 7 g ) salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups ( 315 g ) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup ( 100 g ) packed brown sugar
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten
- 1 1/4 cups ( 264 g ) vegetable or grapeseed oil
For the frosting:
- 8 oz ( 226 g ) cream cheese, cold
- 1/2 cup ( 100 g ) sugar
- 2/3 cup ( 140 g ) heavy cream
- pinch sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Make the cake:
- Position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9×13-inch heavy-duty metal cake pan or two 8-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper for easy removal.
- In a food processor, using the shredder attachment, shred the carrots.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugars. Add the grated carrots and toss to coat. Add the beaten eggs and oil, and stir with a spatula until evenly mixed.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared 9×13-inch pan or divide the batter among the two 8-inch pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 45 – 50 minutes for the 9×13-inch pan, about 30 minutes for the round pans. Let cool on a rack to room temperature.
- If you baked round pans, halve each one crosswise to make 4 round layers total.
- To make the frosting: Beat the cold cream cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the heavy cream, a pinch of salt, and the vanilla. Beat again until light and fluffy.
Frost the cake:
- If using a 9×13-inch pan: Scrape the frosting onto the center of the cake. With an offset spatula, if you have one, spread the frosting evenly over the surface.
- If using round pans: Set one layer on a plate or cake platter. Top with one quarter (roughly) of the frosting, spreading to cover. Top with another layer of cake and repeat this frosting-spreading-layering process until each layer of cake has a nice layer of frosting.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
