Double Bundles of JOY!!

More babies?? YEZZZ!! LOL! Last Sunday, I attended the “full moon” celebration of my God sister’s new born twin baby girls.  Aren't they adorable? So in total now, I have three God nieces and two God nephews.  The rest of my nephews and nieces are all young adults and I am looking forward to more grand nieces and nephews. 

Each family member made a dish for this “full moon” lunch.  Every vegetarian dish here is special because it was cooked with love. They are all very delicious, I ate so much that I have to skip my dinner.

It has been a while since I wanted to make a dessert with kumquats.  Last week, when I was at the Cold Storage, I saw lots of nagami kumquats and I could not resist buying some. They are extremely expensive and I knew I am getting myself into a lot of work but I knew it will be all worth it. The tartness of kamquats and the fragrance from the toasted ground fennel seeds that were added to the ricotta cheese filling gave this tart a very distinctive taste.  I have never tasted anything like this before.  I LOVE it and I will definitely make this again whenever I see nagami kamquats on sale.  Since the bake came out perfect and the presentation was beautiful, I brought this tart to the lunch as a contribution from me.  Everyone ate the pie with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. I could hear the "mmmms" and "aahhhs" and it makes me very happy to see the how everyone enjoys their piece of tart. Unfortunately, I only made one tart and there was no second helping.

Adapted from epicurious.com

I am submitting this recipe to Aspiring Bakers #6: Say Cheese! (April 2011) hosted by Jean of Nom I must. To find out more click here. Do head over to Jean's blog, she has lots of great bakes. 

The main ingredients for the filling

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh nagami kumquats, thinly sliced, remove seeds

1 cup water

2 cups plus 2 tbs castor sugar

1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly toasted

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1 (12- to 13-inch) baked sweet tart shell

Method:

Thinly slice kumquats crosswise with a sharp knife, discarding seeds.

Bring water and 2 cups sugar to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then simmer syrup, uncovered, 5 minutes. Stir in kumquats and simmer gently 10 minutes. Drain and cool kumquats in a sieve set over a bowl, then return drained syrup to pan and boil until reduced to about 1/3 cup, 3 to 5 minutes.

Finely grind fennel seeds in coffee/spice grinder, then transfer to a bowl and whisk together with ricotta, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and a pinch of salt just until ricotta is slightly smoother. Whisk in sour cream until just combined and spread evenly over bottom of tart shell.

Arrange kumquats as evenly as possible over ricotta using your fingers or a small spoon, separating slices as necessary with a skewer, then brush kumquats with some of reduced syrup.

Note: Kumquats can be candied 1 day ahead and chilled in syrup (before reducing), covered. Warm mixture before proceeding. Ricotta filling can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Tart can be assembled 2 hours ahead and kept at room temperature.

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