Demerara sugar kumquat loaf cake
A tale of neglect with a happy ending
A few days before our wedding last month, we were at home - furiously cleaning labels off 200 jars for tea lights which I’ll admit, was not one of my better ideas - when the doorbell rang. Nobody was there, but on the doorstep stood a huge, tall cardboard box.
We got it inside, ripped our way through the packaging, and eventually unwrapped a petite, delicate little tree with a spindly tall trunk and a thick flourish of glossy dark green leaves. Nestled amid its leaves were a seemingly-impossible number of fat, orange kumquats.
The tree was an incredibly thoughtful wedding present from old friends, and soon found itself a happy, quiet and dappled sun trap in the hull of our bay window, next to the lemon tree three of my girlfriends bought us when we got engaged. Marking life’s big moments with a new fruit tree, an unintended but rather beautiful new tradition that has made our living room feel like an Italian citrus grove.
But then we got married and went away on our mini moon, and it turns out that kumquat tree are thirsty. We got home from the South coast to find the tree a little less glossy, the leaves a little less perky, and kumquats scattered like an overturned jar of marbles across the floor.
A few days of diligent watering, spritzing and leaf wiping got the tree back on track, but there was nothing to be done for the fallen fruit. Except, of course, to bake with them - and that’s exactly what I did.
Kumquats have a thinner, softer skin than other citrus, which means you can - and should - eat them whole, peel and all. I like to candy mine, as it softens the skin and enhances the potent, floral flavour of these incredible little fruits. This cake was a cupboard-clearer of a recipe, but I love the texture the Demerara sugar and spelt flour bring to the sponge. It’s a heavy crumb, but flavourful and soft, and is the perfect base for kumquats to shine.
I baked this in a little 500g loaf tin, which I use a lot as there are just two of us at home and it stops us being too gluttonous - what can I say, I bake a lot! If you wanted to make this in a standard 1kg loaf tin, just double the quantities. The bake will take longer, I haven’t tested it in a 1kg so can’t give you an exact scale up, but i’d say it would need at least an extra 30 minutes.
For the candied kumquats
150g kumquats
120g caster sugar
60g water
For the cake
1 egg
100g Demerara sugar
120g natural yoghurt
75g ground almonds
50g spelt flour
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
Heat the oven to 170C, and line a 500g loaf tin (or 1kg if doubling the recipe) with baking paper. I do this with one thin strip of paper which covers the base and two slimmer sides, and a spray of oil on the longer sides. You can then use the paper to lift the cake out of the tin once it’s cool.
Start with the candied kumquats. Slice the kumquats thinly. While you are doing that, place the caster sugar and water in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Once the sugar has all dissolved and the syrup is starting to bubble, add the sliced kumquats. Boil over a medium heat for 10-15 minutes, until the fruit is soft and a little translucent. Remove from the heat and leave the kumquats in the syrup to cool while you make the cake.
Place the egg and Demerara sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, and whisk on high for 4-5 minutes until palest beige, fluffy and volumous. The sugar won’t dissolve totally, and that’s fine. Add the yoghurt and stir through gentle.
Add all of the dry ingredients (ground almonds, spelt flour, salt and baking powder) and mix by hand until just combined.
Drain the kumquats, reserving the syrup, then roughly chop half of them and add to the cake batter, stirring through. Place the batter in the tin, level the surface, then gentle top with the remaining candied kumquats. Don’t push them into the cake, we want them to stay on the surface.
Bake in the centre of the pre-heated oven for 45 minutes - 1 hour, until risen, golden and a knife gently inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes, then brush with the reserved syrup. Once completely cool, remove from the tin. Serve with extra kumquat cooking syrup and if you like, a little creme fraiche or sour cream.
