This recipe was actually made a couple of years ago, put in a cupboard to mature and then promptly forgotten. My desire to add these beauties to Stephanie's Christmas mince pies brought them again to the front of my mind. Digging through my heavily laden pantry, I was desperately hoping that the boozy little jar had miraculously survived the many clean outs and reshuffles that occur periodically in my kitchen.
Survive it did, and I excitedly scooped out the contents, marvelling at how much the alcohol soaked cumquats looked like the shrivelled thumbs of my children after they had sat in the bath for too long. It didn't require much coaxing to convince the two citrus loving men of my household to test them out to ensure they had not gone bad.
The verdict was a good one - apparently the cumquats were still lovely and tart, with a heavenly brandy flavour throughout. I cannot wait to add these to all sorts of desserts over the coming months, even if I can't eat them myself! Things are definitely stabilising in that department and I am very much hoping that citrus will be back on the menu for me in the next couple of years. In the meantime, my boys will have an extra helping of my lovely citrus desserts all to themselves.
Stay tuned for Stephanie's (post) Christmas mince pies!
