Kumquat Pudding Cakes

This recipe is adapted from Cannelle et Vanille, where Aran Goyoaga originally posted a recipe for Glazed Sour Orange and Coconut Pudding Cakes. I couldn’t find small sour oranges, so I used kumquats, and I’m really glad I did. They were absolutely delicious, and in fact, the Engineer decided maybe kumquats aren’t that bad after all (he’s found them too bitter in the past). The glaze is entirely optional.

I encountered two problems while making this recipe. First of all, the directions were to boil the kumquats, then transfer their juice and flesh (not seeds) to a food processor and keep 1 cup of the purée. But I only got ½ cup of purée, so I was surprised to have such a small yield and wondered whether I should halve the recipe. But when I read the comments on the original post, I realized that since the skin on kumquats is very thin, it is edible, so regardless of how the instructions were phrased, I was supposed to include it in the purée. I therefore puréed the skin and topped up the flesh purée to reach 1 cup. This may have contributed to minimizing the bitterness in the cakes, though I’m not sure how much of a difference that really makes, especially when it is so time-consuming to tear the flesh from the skin of all these kumquats. I’m therefore amending the instructions to just seed the boiled citrus and put its flesh, juice and peel in the food processor. If you want to spend the extra time separating flesh from skin, you can, and if you want to use only flesh and not skin, plan on 2 pounds of kumquats.

The second problem I had was that I don’t have cannelé molds, and I didn’t want to make a loaf cake. I considered using an 8-inch round cake pan, but settled on my mini-muffin pan instead because it’s made of silicone, which I knew would make the delicate cakes easier to unmold. If you use a standard mini-muffin pan, you should get about 36 little cakes. I do hope you make them, because they are SO good!



For the cakes
1 lb. (450 g.) kumquats (or small sour oranges)
½ cup (60 g.) coconut flour
½ cup (50 g.) almond flour (I used almond meal)
3 Tbsp. (30 g.) tapioca flour
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
3 eggs
1 cup (200 g.) natural cane sugar
½ cup (150 g.) coconut oil, melted
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped (or vanilla bean paste)

Place the kumquats in a medium pot and cover them with water. Simmer them covered for an hour or until tender. Drain the water and place the oranges in a large bowl. When cool enough to handle, open them with your fingers and remove and seeds. Transfer the juice, flesh and skin (see note above) to a food processor or blender and purée to a fine paste. You might find it easier to place a sieve over the bowl of the food processor as you’re removing the seeds, so that at least the juice falls into the bowl and any seeds that escape your grasp will be caught.

Preheat the oven at 350 °F and grease a mini-muffin pan. (Mine holds 24 mini-muffins, so I did this in two batches.)

In a small bowl, mix the coconut flour, almond flour, tapioca flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

Measure 1 cup (300 g.) of purée into a bowl. Add the eggs, sugar, vanilla and melted coconut oil. Whisk to combine. Add the reserved dry ingredients and fold.

Scoop the batter into the prepared molds. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Insert a clean toothpick in the center to see if it comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for a few minutes before unmolding.

For the glaze
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

Whisk them until it forms a fluid glaze. Pour over warm cakes.