Home » Ingredient » Kumquat Cupcakes with Orange Glaze or Icing

Kumquat Cupcakes with Orange Glaze or Icing

If you’ve made my Sicilian Orange Cake, then you’ll know that these Kumquat Cupcakes are just as fabulous! I’ve given two options to top them: a glaze or icing. You can’t go wrong with either one!

kumquat cupcakes, overhead

You may remember my post on how to eat kumquats?

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Well, if you’re looking for a way to use those kumquats, besides eating them, you can make these moist and wonderful kumquat cupcakes and top them with icing (as above), or a sweet glaze, like this.

text box with paraphrase: I made a loaf instead of cupcakes. Followed the recipe exactly, this is DELICIOUS!-Leona

kumquat cupcakes
You could actually leave them “naked” and not ice or glaze them, too. Nothing wrong with that. However, if you’re just not into making these kumquat cupcakes, take a look at these…

Click for 11 kumquat recipes both savory and sweet.

Easy kumquat jam
Easy kumquat jam

Note: instead of juicing a lot of kumquats, just use an orange for the glaze, or icing. It’s so much easier and just as delicious. There’s a unique (in the US/UK) ingredient if you can get your hands on it from an Italian shop, or via Amazon called Paneangeli. If you can’t find it, you can always use baking powder.

kumquat-cupcakes

Here is the recipe for the cupcakes for the rest of you, with a printable recipe below. Enjoy, they’re truly wonderful!

kumquat cupcakes

Kumquat Cupcakes with Orange Glaze or Icing

adapted from Sicilian Whole Orange Cake        makes 18 cupcakes

FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW  

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)

Line one cupcake tray with 12 organic cupcake liners 

Make the cupcake batter

Place the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy.

Sift the flour with the baking powder then add to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time along with the softened butter. Continue to mix until completely blended, then stir in the yogurt.

Adding yogurt to Sicilian Orange Cake

Process the kumquats in a food processor until almost pureed. It should just be a bit “chunky” with little bits showing. Add to the cake mixture, and stir until evenly combined.

adding kumquat puree to batter

Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full.

filling liners with batter

Bake the Kumquat Cupcakes

Place tray in middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until done.

baked cupcakes in tray

Remove cupcakes from tray and place on cooling rack. 

Kumquat cupcakes cooling

Make the Glaze or Icing

Glaze

Prepare the glaze by melting the sugar in the orange juice and allow to simmer for a few minutes, just until the liquid has a syrupy consistency. Spoon and brush over the top of the cupcakes.

brushing glaze on top

Ta dah!

single kumquat cupcake on a clear plate

Icing

Put the confectioner’s sugar in a bowl and add a teaspoon of orange juice and stir.

making icing

Add as much orange juice as is needed to acheive an icing that is a little runny, but will mostly stay on the cupcakes.

icing cupcakes

I honestly can’t tell you which I prefer.

kumquat cupcake with orange icing

I think I would do the same again (half glazed and half iced)! 

kumquat cupcakes overhead

Oh, and remember that dried citrus rind recipe? Sprinkle a little of that on top of these if you’ve made some! 

mini cake with citrus fruit and icing

Just look at how moist and delicious they look! 

split kumquat cupcake

 

kumquat cupcakes

Kumquat Cupcakes with Orange Glaze or Icing

Yield: 18 cupcakes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 30 minutes
Additional Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

Moist and delicious kumquat cupcakes are lightly topped with a delicious citrus icing.

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/8 c (250 g) sugar
  • 1 3/4 c (275 g) all purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 tsp baking powder (or 1 packet Italian Pane Degli Angeli vanilla baking powder)
  • 1/3 c (100 g) butter, softened
  • 1/3 c (110 g) plain Greek yogurt
  • 300 g of kumquats, washed, cut in half with the seeds removed

Glaze

  • juice of one organic orange
  • 1/4 c (100g) sugar

Instructions

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)

Make the whole orange cake

    1. Place cupcake liners into a cupcake pan or two (18.)
    2. Place the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy.
    3. Sift the flour with the baking powder then add to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time along with the softened butter. Continue to mix until completely blended, then stir in the yogurt.
    4. In a food processor, or blender, process the kumquats until almost pureed.
    5. Add the processed kumquats to the cake mixture and stir until evenly combined. Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full.
    6. Place tray(s) in middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until done. Remove from the oven.

    Make the orange glaze

      1. Prepare the glaze by melting the sugar in the orange juice and allow to simmer for a few minutes, just until the liquid has a syrupy consistency.
      2. Spoon or brush over the top of the cupcakes and allow to cool completely before eating.

Notes

If you prefer, you can use an 8" springform pan or loaf tin to bake this batter. Bake for about 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 18 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 81Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 91mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 2gSugar: 4gProtein: 3g

Nutrition information is simply an estimate.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a review by clicking on the 5 stars above, in the purple header (a form will appear) or tag me on Instagram! 😍

Sign up for my free subscription and ever miss another recipe or travel post!

Christina’s Cucina is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

22 Comments

  1. I tried tasting a kumquat years ago but it was so bitter I never gave them another thought. My neighbor brought me a bunch from their trees to try. The skin was sweet but inside was sour. I found your recipe for kumquat cupcakes but you also had a note about using a loaf pan instead of cupcakes. I followed your recipe as you stated…it is DELICIOUS! For the glaze I didn’t have any oranges so I squeezed two freshly picked mandarins for the juice..yummy!

  2. I have saved this recipe for over a year now and I’m finally ready to make them. My kumquats are bigger than I’m used to, while being so much sweeter. I can’t wait to try these cupcakes! I only discovered kumquats a few years ago. How have the been absent in my life for forty years?!!