Looking for a unique kumquat dessert? These Cardamom Kumquat Bars combine sweet-tart citrus with warm spice in a buttery, shortbread crust—perfect for showcasing fresh kumquats in a decadent and easy-to-make treat.
I love baking up new and unusual treats. I especially love finding new uses for some of my favorite fruits. Put the two together and you know something delicious is baking in my oven!
Fruit desserts are my favorite and I can’t get enough of them. I recently found kumquats at my middle eastern market and I scooped up a bag full to bring home and create some kind of kumquat dessert. I had just perfected my lemon bar recipe, so I figured why not try making some kumquat bars, too?
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Recipe highlights
- Simple: These kumquat bars are a one bowl dessert that is super easy to whip up!
- Texture: Buttery shortbread crust compliments the sweet and sour kumquat filling. The crunchy top is dusted with powdered sugar, making it one decadent treat!
- Rustic elegance: I love finding new was to use kumquats and these bars are unique and give me cottage tea house vibes!
Ingredients you need
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- Kumquats: This is the star of the show, so chose kumquats that are ripe and ready. This means a sweet skin and tart fruit.
- Orange blossom water: I like to add a touch of floral by adding some orange blossom water to this jam. You can find it at middle eastern stores or online. This optional and can be omitted if you do not want to use it.
- Butter: I love baking with olive oil, but the shortbread crust in these bars need butter!
- Ground cardamom: This is a key spice for this cake and offers a distinctive aroma and flavor.
- Eggs: Large eggs are the standard in baking.
- Pantry staples: All purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and powdered sugar.
Step-by-step directions
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- Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a 9×13 baking pan with aluminum foil and grease with non-stick spray.
- Blend the kumquats. Kumquat seeds are edible, but you can cut each fruit in half and remove them if you want. Add kumquats and orange blossom water in a blender and process until smooth.
- Make crust. Combine flour, butter, sugar and cardamom to form a dough. Press dough evenly onto the bottom of a greased 9×13 baking pan and bake until edges turn golden brown.
- Make the filling. While the crust is in the oven, whisk together kumquat purée, flour, sugar, eggs and baking powder. Pour filling over hot crust and place back in the oven.
- Bake again. Bake for 20 minutes and let kumquat bars cool completely before removing from the pan. Top with powdered and slice to serve.
Expert tips and recipe FAQs
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: You can keep the bars in a sealed container at room temperature for a couple of days, but they will last longer in the refrigerator. When stored in a sealed container, kumquat bars should last about 5 days in the refrigerator.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze the bars. Wrap in foil, parchment paper or plastic wrap and freeze for up to 4 months.
Kumquats seem to confuse people. They look like oranges, but are the size of a large olive. Kumquats stand out in the citrus family because the entire fruit, skin and all, is edible. The kumquat skin is deliciously sweet while the fruit and juice inside is tart. It makes an incredible combination in your mouth! The seeds of the kumquats are edible, but, I personally, do not eat the large seeds. When cooking or baking with kumquats, I usually remove the seeds first.
Unlike the classic jiggly fruit bar, these bars have a crispy crust on top of the lemon filling. You did not make a mistake. This is the way the recipe is supposed to turn out and what makes these bars so unique.
Some people get loquats and kumquats confused. The kumquat is part of the citrus family, while the loquat is kinda like an apricot or peach. The kumquat is kinda opposite of the typical citrus fruit. It has a sweet skin and a sour center. And the entire fruit is edible. A loquat has large pit in the center and is surround by very sweet and juicy fruit.
Cardamom Kumquat Bars
Ingredients
- 22 kumquats halved and seeded
- 4 tablespoon orange blossom water
- 3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted melted butter
- 6 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
- 3 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a 9×13 baking pan with aluminum foil and grease with non-stick spray.
- In a blender add kumquats and orange blossom water.
- In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups flour, butter, 6 tablespoon sugar and cardamom until fully incorporated.
- Press dough evenly onto the bottom of the foil-lined pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until edges start to turn golden brown.
- While the crust is in the oven, whisk together in the same bowl kumquat purée, 1 cup flour, 3 cups sugar, eggs and baking powder until incorporated.
- Pour filling over hot crust and place back in the oven.
- Bake for 20 minutes and let kumquat bars cool completely before removing from the pan.
- Top bars with powdered and slice to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
Love these! I doubled the kumquats. Fresh ground cardamom was such a nice addition.
Hi Ann!
Double the kumquat and double the yumminess! Sounds great – thanks for sharing!
Laura
I made these last night. Waited until they cooled. Tried to eat one and they are SO sweet. Has there been a mistake in the amount of sugar? Three cups sounded like a lot of sugar, and it sure tastes like it. I cant even discern the kumquats or cardamom.
If you substitute the orange blossom water for orange extracts, do you use the same amount (3tbsp)?
Hi Marina-
Orange blossom water is much more mild in aroma and flavor than orange extract. So I would suggest using 1 TBS.
Laura
Did you use sweet pulp kumquats or sour pulp kumquats?
Hi Pattie-
The skin of the kumquat is sweet and the pulp is usually sour. That is what I used in this recipe. If you have not seen sweet kumquat pulp.
Laura
I used candied kumquats (instead of fresh).
Only used 3/4 cup of sugar (instead of 3).
It becomes a sensational tart like creation. I presented it as a dessert, served warm an absolute delight
Sounds like your modifications were a success! So glad you like the bars.
Laura
Can’t wait to try out this recipe today
I hope you enjoy them!
Laura
So glad I found this recipe! Perfect to use up some frozen kumquat puree from last season (I used about 20 g of puree for each kumquat the recipe calls for). I halved the recipe for an 8×8″ pan, increasing the cardamom to 2 tsp & reducing sugar in the filling to 1 C. I also left out the orange blossom water because I didn’t have any. It turned out fantastic even with all my tweaks – the filling was a bit soft/spongy and didn’t have the lemon bar-esque top crust the pictures show, but the sweetness level was perfect… Read more »
My tips after making these: pay attention so you don’t over-cook the crust. Really do let them cool all the way before cutting or they’ll run all over. Cut small pieces, they’re rich! I’m wondering if they need to be refrigerated?
I am always looking for ways to enjoy the fruits from our organic farm. We have started harvesting tree ripened fruit from our 75 kumquat trees and I am preparing to bake these kumquat bars tonight! I am going to search your other recipes for uses of figs and cherimoya, also fruits we grow on our commercial farm. Thank you!!
I have to make me one of those sometime, what a great combination, cardamom and kumquat, im a cardamom producer always looking for new ways to use this wonderful spice
Spice Sherpa, I'm glad you liked the bars. Thanks so much for including me in your terrific round up of fruit & spice pairings!
After reading your post I promised myself that it would be perfect thing to share for for a summer fruit and spice pairing post. I finally did it and featured a link to your recipe under kumquats and cardamom (of course).
Hi! Found you via your link on The Culinary Lens. 🙂 These bars look wonderful, and so does your bowl full of kumquats photo! My grandmother made cardamom bread during the holidays (with a bit of citrus — lemon zest, etc.), but I never thought to pair them like this. Delish!
Thank you for directing me here vi my blog post. Delicious I am sure. The first time I ever tasted cardamom was in an Indian yogurt drink called a lassi. It was incredible
I adore kumquats and always thought of them exactly as you describe, "inside out of a typical citrus." They can get pretty sour on the inside and it's fun to give one to someone for the first time. No matter how much you warn them that wall of tang hits like brick wall. Never thought of cardamom as a pairing but of course it sounds perfect. And why not? Cardamom is excellent with oranges and tangerines! I've never tried kumquats in a recipe before…can't wait to try this out!
Yum, these bars look gorgeous and your flavor combination sounds delicious!
I have baklava in the oven as we speak with cardamom in it!!! 😀 Your bars look fantastic!
I can't wait to try these! I must admit, I've never eaten a kumquat, so I will use you as my inspiration to try them! Cardamom is one of my favorite flavors in the world, so this seems like a win-win for me. Thanks for the recipe, Laura!
Looks delicious. Cardamom is one of my favorite spices. I had a cake overflow in my oven once, what a mess! I feel your pain on that one.