Ricotta Cake with Kumquat Marmalade

Anyone who knows me knows I love bright, bold colors; that’s what made me especially drawn to the picture of Claire’s Ricotta Cake with Kumquat Marmalade. Out of all the recipes so far, this one is my favorite.

The first challenge of this recipe was tracking down kumquats. I’d heard of them before, but really had no idea about their taste or appearance—and let me tell you, if you’ve never tasted them, pucker up! Kumquats are TART! I ordered two pounds online, and they arrived in just a couple days ready to use. They look like mini oval oranges; they’re so cute! Before I prepped them for the recipe, I researched the proper way to cut kumquats. You can easily cut them in half, but you do need to look through them for a seed or two. Their seeds are surprisingly pretty big for the small size of fruit. You can, however, eat the rind (I’m not sure what would be left to eat if you didn’t). Kumquats are often used in salads aside from desserts.

A bonus for me with this recipe was using my new lemon zester (it’s the small things, people)! I’ve had the same dollar-store zester since I bought my first basic kitchen utensils in college. It traveled across the U.S. from apartment to apartment with me, but now I felt it was time to replace it in my big girl kitchen. The one I bought is from OXO; I love their products. Before it was such a pain to get the right amount of any citrus zest—now it’s fun and easy!

This recipe was the first one with a moderate level of difficulty that I’ve made from Dessert Person. I used my food processor for this recipe to make something between a batter and a dough with the ricotta. I believe the reason this recipe is considered moderate in difficulty is due to the egg whites. You have to switch your speeds on the mixer to get soft peaks before adding in the sugar, then knowing when to stop before you over whip for firm peaks (Claire has pictures of all these levels to help in the beginning of the book). The consistency of the final batter placed in the springform pan reminded me a bit of an angel food cake batter. It has a similar airiness to it after folding in the egg whites.

When I let the finished cake cool, the center sunk down and the sides were brown like Claire mentioned. My cake did not form the “waist” that Claire talked about, but it still looked very pretty. If you aren’t into kumquats, you could easily use a different fruit marmalade for this cake. It took a while for the kumquat sauce to form a maple syrup consistency, and I definitely see why it’s important to let it cool completely before placing it over the cake. The center is very fragile, and a hot marmalade would likely make it sink down (since I had more kumquats than needed, I used about 12 ounces instead of eight).

Not only was this cake rewarding in its appearance, it was absolutely delicious! The cake itself is creamier than usual cake, but smoother than cheesecake. I loved the tart balance of the kumquat marmalade; I had family try it, and they think it would be better if the kumquats were blended so the tartness evened out more, which I think would also be delicious. If I had a restaurant, this is the kind of dessert I’d have on the menu. It’s truly something many people would not think they could create in a home kitchen, but it really is pretty easy to do. This may be my new birthday cake request!

I’m hopeful Claire will be releasing videos on some of the desserts I’ve been working on lately since I’m working through the winter seasonal recipes. I can’t wait to see a video on this one!