Kumquat Popsicle Craft Project
April 5th, 2006 Caroline
I don’t really think of Amanda Hesser, the food writer for the NYT magazine, as someone who’s going to give me ideas for cooking with kids, and that certainly wasn’t her intention when she wrote about kumquats a couple weeks ago.
But the essay intrigued me, so I ordered some in our box and started manufacturing excitement with Ben. He’d never heard of the fruit, but just saying “kumquat” a few times was about all it took. Try it. We had a brief setback, the night before our produce box was due to arrive, when Ben fell prostrate to the floor, crying “But I want kumquats now!”
But we got past that, and when Ben was home from school last week, we turned one of Hesser’s ideas in to a neat little craft project, which in turn became a nice post-dessert dessert (because dessert is still usually something I’ve baked).
So if you happen to see some kumquats in your market (I know, I know), try this with your favorite preschooler. Ben did everything but slice the fruit.
Kumquat Popsicles
You need kumquats, one egg white in a dish, a dish of cinnamon and a dish of sugar or sprinkles (you know which we used). You also need some toothpicks, and then an empty egg carton or other light cardboard box is handy to stick the kumquats in while they freeze.
Slice the kumquats in half horizontally. Stick a toothpick into the stem end so that you’ve got a handle. Dip the cut end of the fruit first into the egg white, then the cinnamon, then the sugar or sprinkles. Stick the end of the toothpick into the empty box so that the kumquat can stand up. Repeat with remaining fruit, and then stick into the freezer till frozen.
Entry Filed under: Recipes