Choc-coated Liqueur Cumquats :)

We have a wonderful cumquat tree at the side of our house, about 3 metres tall, which has been absolutely brimming with gorgeous, juicy cumquats for the past few months.

Now, even though they are a lovely fruit, I know of very few things to actually do with them.

I have sold a few kilos to both of the shops we have regular orders with and I certainly have made A LOT of delicious marmalade, but I wanted to find another use as I have been foisting jars of marmalade upon everyone I know since we moved here!

Making the Liqueur

So...after a bit of internet trawling, I came across this great recipe for Cumquat Brandy Liqueur:
http://www.food.com/recipe/maggies-lethal-kumquat-liqueur-271072

Pretty simple really, wash about 25 cumquats and prick them with a fork, put them in a large jar, add 700mls of brandy and 2&1/4 cups of sugar. Rotate the jar daily to move the sugar around and when it has completely dissolved (about 3 weeks) remove the cumquats, bottle the liqueur into smaller, nice bottles. Put them in the pantry for 6 months to allow the flavours to develop and then drink as desired.

If you leave the cumquats in the brandy for too long, they will soak up all the alcohol and your liqueur will be lacking a little punch. So that's the liqueur itself, but then...what to do with these lovely little brandied cumquats?

Slightly dried segments

The recipe's author suggests dipping them in chocolate for a lovely after dinner treat, I thought that they may be slightly too large and juicy for that, so I sliced them into 6 or 8 segments each, depending on the size of the cumquat, put them on a baking paper lined tray and into the oven for about half an hour on 120 degrees.

After that they had dried slightly and started to caramelize just a little, so I dipped them in dark (62%) chocolate and let them dry on baking paper at room temperature in the pantry overnight.

They are brilliant!! My husband and I both love these tasty little morsels so much that when I told him I had sent some to his lovely sister he looked at me incredulously and said "Why??!".

Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over a saucepan of simmering water- dip in the cumquat segments and...

...voila! Delicious delicacies!

Needless to say, I am making another batch. There will be lots of Cumquat Brandy Liqueur at our Christmas this year and lots of delicious choc-dipped liqueur cumquats in the meantime! Mmmmmm....