kinkan (kumquat) conserva

With the kinkan (kumquat) that I received from Michelle, I tried a recipe that I've had bookmarked for awhile...Kumquat Conserva.

The recipe only calls for 4 ingredients...vanilla bean, sugar, water and the kumquats.

The hardest part of this recipe was de-seeding the kumquats.

My conserva didn't turn out as "jammy" as I envisioned it would.

Still, this was delicious on toast. I think it would be nice with plain yogurt too.

Kumquat Conserva : scribbled down from "Sunset Magazine"

1 vanilla bean
1.5 cups sugar
1 pound kumquats
1.5 cups water

Split vanilla, scrape seeds, set aside
In a pot, bring the water and sugar to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes
Add kumquat and return to simmer
Cook until skin translucent (about 15 minutes)
Strain kumquats over bowl
Add syrup and vanilla to pot and bring to a boil, cook for 10-12 minutes and reduce to 1.25 cups

NOTES: not sure where I went wrong but my conserva didn't have much liquid. Still I liked this and would definitely make this again.

I sent a bottle of the conserva (in the first picture) to Michelle, hope she likes what I did with the kumquats from her relative's tree.

Thanks again Michelle!