Kumquat pâte de fruit (fruit jellies)
| December 18, 2009 | Posted by ameliaps under any season, candied fruit, candy, dessert, kumquat, winter |
I bought some kumquats from the market… mmm … what should I do with them???
I have always wanted to make pâte de fruit (little fruit jelly jewels) so I thought I would try that.
Another option was to candy them whole.
There are basicaly 3 ways to make pâte de fruit (pronounced: PAHT duh fruit):
1) The sloooooow way: cooking down fruit, sugar and lemon juice
2) The fast way: by thickening fruit puree with a gelification agent (pectin, gelatin or agar-agar)
3) the scientists way: fruit puree, granulated sugar, pectin (such as apple pectin), glucose, and tartaric acid plus a candy thermometer
As I researched various recipes, I found out that some fruits (cranberry, quince, and most citrus) have natural pectin while other need a gelification agent to set.
They are so adorable especially when rolled in sugar. They are great after dinner, instead of dessert.
You can be creative with the fruit you use: pineapple, orange, tangerine, apricot, apple, strawberry, rhubarb, … they take on the wonderful vibrant colors of fruit.
In south America they make “membrillo”, essentially a quince pâte de fruit. It goes incredibly with cheese, best if Manchego and a side of Marcona almonds 
Kumquat pâte de fruit
Recipe adapted from Zoe Bakes
(Makes a lot of jellies!)
About 30 kumquats (should equal 1 1/2 cups of puree once processed)
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon butter
2 pouches liquid pectin (Certo brand is best)
Parchment lined 9×9″ baking dish
In a saucepan of boiling water cook the kumquats for about 10 seconds. This will soften the skin of the fruit, and remove some of the bitterness. Add the whole cooked fruit to a food processor and blend until well broken up. Press through a strainer to get out the seeds and the rind. You may have to add some water or orange juice to get up to 1 1/2 cups of juice.
[NOTE: this will take LOTS of arm work, don't give up! You will need to yield a nice and THICK paste or the pectin will NOT set!!!!]
Add the juice and the sugar to a medium size sauce pot and bring to a boil.
Once it is boiling you will cook the mixture for 5 minutes. Half way through add the butter and continue to cook. Be sure to stir constantly and make sure it doesn’t boil over. You may have to adjust the temperature as you cook. Once the mixture has cooked for the full 5 minutes turn off the heat and add the Certo. Stir until well combined. Pour into prepared baking dish.
Cut with a sharp knife or cookie cutter. Roll in sugar to serve.
Here’s how others have approached pâte de fruit:
- Plum candy, from Anita at Married with dinner (the “sloooow” way)
- Apricot, from Jaques Pepin (with powdered gelatin)
- Raspberry, from A Chow Life (with gelatin envelopes)
- Pineapple-lime, from Emeril Lagasse (with pectin)
- Strawberry and white peach, from Mr. Jeff McCarthy (the”scientist” way)
- Apple Calvados, from Girl cooks in Paris (the “scientist” way)
- Apple (in cute shapes), from Not Without Salt adapted from Alice Waters (the “sloooow” way)
- Applesauce, Apricot and Raspberry, from Jaques Torres (the “sloooow” way)
- Kumquat and Vanilla Bean, from Zoe Bakes (with liquid pectin) <– this is the recipe I used!
- Orange Jam (or other jam variations!), from Melinda Lee (with jam and gelatin envelopes)
- Green Apple, from Cannelle et Vanille (the “scientist” way)
- Passion Fruit, from how to lay an egg (the “scientist” way)
- Strawberry and Rhubarb, from Tartelette (with liquid pectin)
Print 
PDF
Wow they look absolutely to die for, great photos!!
ooo, yum! these look great! thanks also for the catalog of other pate de fruit posts–very useful.
They look gorgeous! You've inspired me to make them again! Thanks, Zoë
I really need to be brave and buy some kumquats. This would be nice to offer up along with Christmas cookies I'm planning on making for my family.
ohh, your pate de fruit looks like perfection! i'm a HUGE fan of kumquats.
Oh, yummy! I must try this. The obvious fruits for pate de fruit are those which are rich in pectin. You can use quince just with sugar (I can send you the link to my recipe, it's somewhere among the series of quince entries from this autumn) – and I wonder, would it work with cranberries, too? Who of us will try first??