Stuffed Crossiant French Toast

So this recipe actually started two weeks ago and I didn't know it. While grocery shopping I saw a container of kumquats on sale and thought huh, bet I could do something with that. I have never had kumquats and have always been curious about them, so why not. The kumquats sat in the same container in the fruit basket for another week when I finally decided to do something with them. After searching for something to do with them I found an easy recipe for candied kumquats. Sure, what the heck!

Candied Kumquats Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups of roughly chopped kumquats (roughly 1-1½ lbs.)
• 1 cup of water
• 2 cups of sugar

METHOD

1 With a pairing knife roughly chop the kumquats. Discard any seeds you can that are easy to get too, but they're edible so don't fret if some get chopped up or stay in the fruit. Feel free to leave any small kumquats whole.

2 Heat the water and sugar over high heat until it comes to a boil. Simmer for 4 minutes. Add the kumquats and simmer for 10 minutes.

3 Drain the kumquats through a sieve set over a bowl. Return the syrup to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the syrup. Combine the kumquats and 1/4 cup of the syrup together.

Serve or jar and refrigerate. Can be stored for up to two weeks.

Super easy and super yummy! The kumquats turned out super sweet and the syrup was citrusy. The longer it cooled the thicker the syrup became. Now I had to figure out what to do with the finished product. Hmmm...

But now I have discovered that making candied fruit is easy and delicious. So, what else can I candy?? I searched for more candied fruit recipes and saw several but nothing seemed interesting. But I did see candied fruit peel recipes. So as I was peeling my morning grapefruit I thought, why not? So I saved the peel and after breakfast began the process.

Candied Fruit Peel
INGREDIENTS:

3 oranges

3 lemons

1 1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

PREPARATION:

Cut peel of each orange and lemon into 4 sections with sharp knife. Remove peel carefully with fingers. Scrape white membrane from peel with spoon (back of peel will appear porous when membrane is removed). Cut peel lengthwise into strips about 1/4 inch wide. Heat peel and enough water to cover to boiling in 1 1/2-quart saucepan; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 30 minutes; drain. Repeat simmering process. Heat 1 1/2 cups sugar and 3/4 cup water to boiling in 1 1/2-quart saucepan, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved. Stir in peel. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, 45 minutes; drain in strainer Roll in 1/2 cup sugar; spread on waxed paper to dry. Store tightly covered at room temperature no longer than 1 week.

I should have either had more water when simmering the peel with the water and sugar, or not let it simmer as long, because when I came back to the pot there was no liquid, just chunky sugar and the grapefruit peel. But this was a good mistake. Now I had grapefruit sugar! It was chunky like rock candy almost. So I took out the peels and then reserved the sugar. The peels were awesome! Almost like the candy orange slices, only better! But what to do with the sugar?

Now I had candied kumquats and grapefruit sugar. Surely I could figure out something for these! Stuffed french toast was sounding really good. So I bought a single crossiant on Saturday night with the intention of turning it into french toast on Sunday morning. I also had cream cheese in the fridge that needed to be used. I sliced the crossiant part way thru creating a pocket. I combined 2 oz of cream cheese (full fat by the way) with some of the kumquat syrup and grapefruit sugar. I soaked the now stuffed croissant in an egg batter. What better to make a nice crispy crust on the croissant than by cooking it in butter! Oh fantastic. The outside of the croissant caramelized to a nice golden brown. I patiently waited for my creation to cook all the way thru and form a nice crispy crust. I plated the croissant and drizzled more kumquat syrup on top along with the remaining candied kumquats and more grapefruit sugar. I had to take a picture, it was just too pretty. But not to0 pretty to be eaten! As I sliced into it the cream cheese began to ooze out. The first bite was brilliant. The crust was crispy, the grapefruit sugar was still crunchy, and the filling was creamy and decadent. As I always do, I saved the center for last. That was going to be the best part, where all the filling was and the best part of the caramelized crust. I mopped as much of the kumquat syrup up as I could using the outside edge of the croissant. The oozing center was begging to be devoured but I slowly and deliberately saved it until the end. It was pure heaven. There was still syrup left on the plate when all was finished, so admittedly I picked up the plate and licked it. Oh sweet goodness. This was absolutely the best thing that I have ever made!