Kumquats and Almond Tea Cakes

Here is the sequence of events from April 12, Thursday.

12:00pm - I discovered someone at work brought kumquats into work for everyone to take. I took a lot.

1:00pm - I started looking up recipes and found this one from tarteletteblog.com

2:00pm - I realized that I needed a cake tin, immediately purchased one from Amazon and paid the extra $3.99 for 1-day shipping so I could use it over the weekend

4:00pm - I called all of the Trader Joe's and Whole Foods' in the area to see who had millet flour

6:00pm - I went to Whole Foods to get all of the ingredients I needed.

What can I say? I work fast.

I absolutely loved this recipe. I think it helped greatly that the kumquats I took were incredibly sweet compared to any other kumquats I had ever tasted. You will see in the recipe that it calls for Kumquat Compote, which is super easy to make. You cut up 1 cup of kumquats with the rind on and bring it to a boil with 1 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup water. Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and once cooled, drain the kumquats, saving about 2-3 tbsp of the syrup. Puree the kumquats and syrup until it looks and feels like a thick marmalade.

The cake is very moist and sweet, then when topped with the fresh kumquats, it brings a nice tartness to the dessert. This was actually the first recipe I've tried from tarteletteblog.com, which is surprising because I've drawn a lot of inspiration from that blog. I even purchased the food photography book from the blogger and am so happy to report that her recipes are legit! I will definitely be pulling more recipes from her, but in the meantime, enjoy!

Kumquats!

Some kind generous soul brought in a ton of kumquats into work today and left them in the kitchen. I took whatever that would fit in two paper cups and started researching kumquat recipes. I think I found a good one and will be trying it out this weekend. Wish me luck!

Happy Wednesday

This is the result of a failed cocktail experiment and I liked the picture so much I thought I'd post it.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Shame on me for not updating more often. I haven't even been very busy so I have no excuse. I did attempt to make strawberry cupcakes though and was super excited to finally be able to use my cakestand, but the cupcakes were a fail. The frosting turned out extremely liquidy and couldn't even frost the cupcakes so I left them off the blog. So I turned to this trusty buffalo chicken dip that I made for a get together the other day. Just by looking at the ingredients, you just know it's going to be heart attack good. Below is the recipe. I promise I will put more time into my blog soon enough!

Ingredients:
1 whole shredded chicken
1 16 ounce bottle of blue cheese
1 cup Frank's hot sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
16 ounces of cream cheese
green onions for garnish

Instructions:
1. Combine chicken, dressing, Frank's, and 3/4 cup shredded cheese with the cream cheese in a saucepan.
2. Melt over medium low heat until it's smooth.
3. Place mixture in a 9 by 13 baking dish. Sprinkle the rest of the shredded cheese on top.
4. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes and serve with chips.