kumquat liqueur

I don't really know why you'd want to turn these: 

Into this:

I did it because my friends and I once had a night on some kumqaut liqueur that someone had brought back from holiday and became a byword for a good time. When we made plans for a follow up night, I knew what I wanted my contribution to be.

And so, almost nine months ago, I spent a sunny afternoon, combining cheap brandy, a whole load of sugar and  some kumquats. A week ago today, I metaphorically gave birth to two bottles of sticky, sweet kumquat liqueur. It was a very proud day.

I think it's fair to say that a little bit of kumquat liqueur goes a long way (and I do worry that a lot of kumquat liqueur might actually make you go blind). It is very, very, very sweet. I enjoyed (sort of) a dash in a glass of cava to make what I like to call a kumquallini and a friend made a passable cocktail with some obscure vanilla liqueur and a touch of tonic water. I would not advise combining it with your friend's homemade limoncello, just in case you were wondering.

I found the recipe on food.com. I didn't, in all honesty, follow it. I left the kumquats in there for months, rather than the weeks recommended. I didn't turn it as often as I should because I put the bottles under the spare bed and promptly forgot about them. I did leave it to mature for six months but again, mainly because I kept forgetting about it. I have no idea what effect, if any, that had on the final product.

On Sunday morning, I realised in my kumquallini-induced haze that this blog was actually two years old. In some ways, not a lot has changed in the last two years and yet it feels a lifetime ago (and I don't think that's just related to the amount of kumquat liqueur consumed in the last two years). I do so appreciate being able to come here and ramble on about whatever is uppermost in my mind and I am always, always, always touched by your emails and comments and tweets. Thank you for being here and indulging me.

PS - if you're reading this on my actual blog, I apologise for the fact that the site looks a complete mess at the moment and it looks like I've signed some kind of sponsorship deal with photobucket. I haven't. There's a problem at their end which my designer is trying to sort out. 

PPS - it should be pretty much fixed now.