The little Kumquat tree is a real producer! I've made 2 pies and have a couple quarts of puree in the freezer. The pie is super easy to make... it's a no-bake "refrigerator" pie. INGREDIENTS: 1 baked pie crust, 9" 1 (8 oz.) Cool Whip whipped topping 2/3 cup pureed Kumquats 1 can condensed milk 1/2 cup lemon juice DIRECTIONS: 1. Beat condensed milk and whipped topping. 2. Add lemon juice and beat until thickened. 3. Add pureed kumquats. 4. Pour in pie shell. 5. Chill in refrigerator for several hours before serving Kumquat Refrigerator Pie ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden ) So... there was one more batch that needed picking and my cousin gave me a recipe for Kumquat Liqueur. Okay... I gotta try that! Here's her instructions: About 3 cups or so of peeling. Pare very thinly the bright colored rind. Blot the peel on paper towels to remove any excess oil. (no white on it whatsoever!) Will give a bitter taste. Put peel in quart jar with screw on top. Add 2 cups of vodka. (I've used 80 and 100 proof.) Close jar. Store in cool dark place for 2 + days. ( You want the vodka to absorb the flavor.) Remove the peel and add remaining 1 cup of vodka and 1 1/3 cup of sugar. Close the jar and store in a cool dark place for at least a month. The longer the better. Liqueur step 1 - soak peels ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden ) Liqueur - step 2 with sugar ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden ) Now I just sit and wait at least a month to taste it. Hope it's good... if so, I know what to do with all those peels from now on!
Hi Cheryl, Your pie looks delicious & it'll be interesting to see how the liqueur comes out. I bet it will be good. How cool to be harvesting fruit in the middle of January! Tell me, kumquats are those tiny orange-like fruits, right? If they are what I think they are, my mother used to ship some up to us in the north and my daughter would put some in her homemade cranberry sauce. They were delicious.
Yes Cayuga, that's them. Everyone loves the pie. Not super sweet and just the right amount of tang. Donna, I don't know why the recipes wouldn't work with oranges since they are practically the same. Are you going to try?
Do you mean you are picking kumquats now ? I know you are farther south than I am but,,its winter everywhere. Mine look pretty sad with no leaves,,only thorns. Hope they survive the winter. They are supposed to be hardy to 20 degrees. Temp here dropped to 16 but only stayed that low a few hours so not long enough to hurt the roots. They are in big pots so couldn`t bring them in and no heated garage.
Mart I picked some last weekend. We have had a nights with temps in the 20s. I'm not sure if the remaining fruit suffered from the freeze yet. I'll have to take a peak at them tomorrow. It was too icky to go outside today. Since you started yours from seeds,I'm guessing yours isn't big enough to plant yet?
Cheryl, Made the pie and liqueur today with oranges. The pie is yummy. Can't wait for the liqueur. Thanks for the recipes.
Thanks good to hear Donna! I'll have to try the pie with oranges one time. Also, since it calls for Lemon Juice... maybe I'll try it with lemons too! I'm anxious to see how both of our liqueurs turn out.
