Buttery rich bites cut with zingy kumquat marmalade. # 419: Kumquat Hungarian Shortbread

Not sure how I’ve never had a kumquat before, but I’m on a roll with trying new fruit! They taste like a sour candy but backwards: sweet first and sour second.

The edges got a little extra caramelized and we’re working with 11pm lighting but hey, dessert! Substance over style this week.

Have you heard of Hungarian shortbread? I stumbled across it while listening to Samin and Hrishi on their podcast Home Cooking and was immediately intrigued. Using a cheese grater to shred the dough, allowing for more air pockets – ridiculous extra step or genius move? I had to know.

The cherry tomato of citrus?

Bar trivia to stick in your back pocket: marmalade is just a type of jam made with citrus. The cooking process is exactly the same: slice fruit, add sugar / an acid and cook til the fruit is soft and the liquid is syrupy. Don’t be afraid of all the extra liquid – it thickens more while cooling!

It felt strange to eat the whole kumquat, rind and all. Not only would it be a pain to try and only eat the inside, but the rind is also the sweetest part so you’d be missing out on half the fun.

On your mark, get set…. bake!

Feeling decadent with an added egg yolk.

Attempting to get the top and bottom layers to be vaguely the same. Nothing makes me feel more official in the kitchen than weighing dough on a scale. *Brushes flour off shoulder*

Make sure it’s fully frozen before grating to avoid butter smearing everywhere!

So odd.

Tiny foot alert!

Must resist urge to pack the dough down into the pan.

Sparkle and shine!

Rustic is the word you’re looking for.

Happy munching!

Marmalade recipe from: https://lemonsandanchovies.com/2019/04/kumquat-marmalade/

Shortbread recipe from https://ciaosamin.substack.com/p/dories-hungarian-shortbread-bars