Showing posts with label passionfruit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label passionfruit. Show all posts
Friday, March 31, 2017
passionfruit curd pie
passionfruit curd pie
Guys, I got cocky.
After the triumph that was last month's epic #pieamonth pear and creme fraiche caramel pie, I thought I had it.
I'm a pie expert now! I thought to myself a few weeks ago, as I woke up early to create my next #pieamonth pie. This is going to be a breeze. It doesn't even have a lattice! I'm just going to do as I do — roll out my pie, stick it in the freezer, prep the filling — and go grab a pastry with Jessica. By the time I'm back, it'll be ready for the oven.
One chocolate ganache kouign amann and crazy delicious violet cheesecake later, I stuck the beautifully rolled and perfectly crimped frozen crust to pre-bake in the oven.
Pre-baking is often required when baking a custard or curd pie — the moisture in the filling can make the crust soggy before it has time to actually bake. The point of pre-baking it beforehand without any filling is to give the crust a head start to bake and ultimately solidify before the filling, helping the crust stay firm and prevent soggy bottomed crusts. However, you can't just bake the pie shell without weight to hold it down in the middle — as the crust bakes, pockets of steam get created within the pastry that cause it to puff up and ultimately sag around the edges. You need that weight to hold it down, which is why most pre-baking recipes instruct you to line your shell with aluminum foil or parchment paper filled with pie weights.
So I was placing my beautifully rolled, crimped, lined, and weighted pie in the oven, the parchment paper holding my pie weights gently brushed my countertop oven's heat source and burst into flame.
Have you ever seen parchment paper catch on fire? Especially the cheap kind you can buy in bulk on Amazon that's so thin and tissue papery that you often need to use two or three sheets at a time?
Well, it burns up like gangbusters.
My cat watched in judgement as I screamed, dropped the pan containing the pie, and hastily picked up the flaming inferno formerly known as my parchment paper and lobbed it into my sink. Hundreds of ceramic pie weights flew across the kitchen, making a racket as they bounced across the kitchen floor and rolled to irretrievable places underneath the oven and refrigerator.
I turned to see if my beautifully prepared shell was salvageable. NOPE. I found it lying face down on the ground in a pretty sorry state: half-melted on one side, covered in bits of ash and floor lint.
And that, my friends, is what happens when you get cocky when making pie.
featured:
aheirloom pie plate || crate and barrel utility board || shun paring knife
anthropologie londonderry pie server
Some baker's notes:
- You can use either fresh passionfruit juice (with the seeds strained out) or frozen passionfruit puree in this recipe. Fresh passionfruit was a little hard for me to source, but I would occasionally (and rather randomly) see it at major supermarkets like Whole Foods and even Safeway. You can also use passionfruit puree, which can be found in the frozen section of Latin American markets or even online (but for a much steeper price). Whatever you do though, don't use artificial/shelf-stable passionfruit juice. They put a ton of extra sweetener and artificial preservatives in there that'll just ruin your curd.
- I've already explained pre-baking science, so I won't repeat myself here. One word of advice though — if you have a small oven similar to mine, perhaps use a non flammable material like aluminum foil to line your pie instead. You also don't need to use fancy ceramic pie weights — you can use rice, beans, or even coins! Just make sure you use a generous amount of weight; if you don't use enough, the crust sags in the middle and destroys your beautiful crimp. Which is what happened to me the second time I made this pie.
Available link for download
Monday, March 27, 2017
passionfruit and blueberry cream tart
passionfruit and blueberry cream tart
Hi hi!
I've been in New York for nearly two weeks, and I am ready to make some lists.
Things That Are Awesome About Living in New York
- The subway system. It's so much better than MUNI. You guys don't even know.
- Mazipan rugelach from Breads Bakery. All the halva samples from Seed + Mill. Crinkle cut fries from Shake Shack. REAL BAGELS EVERYWHERE ANYWHERE ALL THE TIME. The Bee Sting pizza from Roberta's. Delis, delis, delis.
- I can get currants here! They're not a thing in California. It's weird. I want to make red currant champagne popsicles. But does champagne freeze? Should I find out? The answer is yes.
Things That Are Not-So-Awesome About Living in New York
- Humidity. That is not really A Thing in San Francisco and Portland. Or, if it is, those crazy West Coasters don't really know what they're talking about. Ehem.
- All my friends are in Brooklyn, and I am all the way in uptown Manhattan. Privileged whinnnneee. I get it. I'm just another insufferable millennial. I'm allowed to have those moments occasionally?
- The lines at the Trader Joe's in the Upper Westside. They have people holding up signs marking the end of the line. How will I get my orange chicken. How.
Things That Are Awesome About Moving
- Apartment hunting. Yes, apartment hunting! In New York City!!! No joke — it's actually SO MUCH BETTER than in San Francisco. We are looking at places with exposed brick, industrial windows, and A DISHWASHER. There's more to choose from, agents actually respond to my texts and go out of the way to send me apartments they think I'll be interested in (I am floored by this — are my standards low?!), and I'm not competing with all the jerks from Google/Facebook who offer to pay $1000+ more than the Craigslist asking price and/or pay the first 6 months rent in cash upfront. Not even joking. San Francisco needs to go.
Things That Are Not Awesome About Moving
- I don't know where anything is yet. Where do I find the best croissant in NYC? Where do I get my groceries? Where's the best farmer's market? Where do I get my hair cut for not a crazy price? Where do I buy a mirrorless camera? Which Whole Foods is The Best Whole Foods? Is it a mistake to get a taco here? Is the cronut still a thing? All you New Yorkers, HELP ME.
- My new (temporary) oven is scary and weird and European and I don't understand it.
- I still haven't unpacked any of my stuff. And I'm probably not going to until we get our own place. Because I don't want to pack up all 24 boxes all over again. Literally all my baking stuff is not very accessible at the moment, and I have not baked anything since I left the west coast.
Luckily, I have a smattering of recipes that I prepared* in San Francisco for you loyal readers!
*Because of course, when I say "prepared", I really mean "the desserts I frantically baked two weeks before I moved from ingredients I was panic-purging from my fridge/freezer/pantry", ehem.
Some of those leftover ingredients were a couple of passionfruits (leftover from this passionfruit curd pie) and some passionfruit puree (leftover from these passionfruit curd donuts), enough to make this pretty tart! If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll be familiar with my undying love for Tartine Bakery's lemon cream tart recipe and my dedication to using it as a base for many other dessert variations (see: lemon and coconut pie jars, fresh fig and lemon tart). This passionfruit cream tart is another one to add to that repertoire — it's basically that lemon cream tart recipe I love so much, but made with passionfruit juice instead of lemon juice! The end result is less tart than the regular recipe, but equally creamy, delicious, and flavorful. Also, I topped that shiz with blueberries because I have been intrigued by the passionfruit and blueberry flavor combo ever since Sam posted these Portuguese egg tarts. It's good.
Enjoy!
PS — thanks Nicole for the hand modeling!
featured:
mercer appetizer plate || mercer mini bowl || mallorca saucer || shun paring knife
Some baker's notes:
- You can use either fresh passionfruit juice (with the seeds strained out) or frozen passionfruit puree in this recipe. Fresh passionfruit was a little hard for me to source, but I would occasionally (and rather randomly) see it at major supermarkets like Whole Foods and even Safeway. You can also use passionfruit puree, which can be found in the frozen section of Latin American markets or even online (but for a much steeper price). Whatever you do though, don't use artificial/shelf-stable passionfruit juice. They put a ton of extra sweetener and artificial preservatives in there that'll just ruin your curd.
- This crust is easy to put together, but sometimes it does have a tendency to crack here and there. Use a European style butter that has more fat than American butter (e.g. Plugra butter, and Whole Foods often has other brands including a generic version) to minimize cracking. If you don't want to bother sourcing European butter (which I often don't, because I'm cheap and lazy), simply reserve a pinch's worth of raw dough to spackle into any cracks when the tart is fresh out the oven and cooling on a wire rack. There's no need to bake again — the residual heat from the tart will bake the dough.
- When working with any citrus juice (or really, most acidic liquids), be sure to use a non-reactive glass or ceramic bowl or pot! Using a stainless steel or even copper one will cause a reaction that will leave your curd tasting metallic. Since the passionfruit and lemon juices sit in the bowl for a long time, it makes a big difference in flavor when using a glass bowl.
- This recipe works best with a quick-read thermometer (FYI — I really, genuinely love my quick-read candy thermometer), but you can wing it without one. Just keep whisk the fruit juices, eggs, and sugar for around 10 to 12 minutes, until the mixture thickens enough for a whisk to leave a trail behind.
Available link for download
Saturday, March 25, 2017
passionfruit curd donuts
passionfruit curd donuts
A few months ago, I wrote about moving down to San Francisco and feeling lost. I didn't know the best places to eat, how to shop for obscure (and not so obscure) ingredients, and where to find a quiet coffee shop to get work done. At that time, the city didn't feel like home to me. I wandered around from store to store, trying to find some passionfruit for this recipe.
Well. It took me three months, but I finally freakin' found some!*
*Actually, that's a little bit of a lie. Erlend found it for me while he was looking for weird fruit (a hobby of his) at the Mexican markets down in the Mission. But WHATEVER. Passionfruit found. Mission accomplished.
These days, I'm a little more settled in San Francisco, but there are still stumbles here and there. Interestingly enough, my life here in the big city seems quieter and less adventurous than the one in Portland. Back there, it was easy to jump in the car or hop on my bike to find something to do on a whim. But San Francisco is a place where people routinely scramble to book dinner reservations months ahead of time (as well as reserve campsites six months out, which is just bananas to me), so it's a lot harder to be spontaneous and find something new without planning in advance.
So, living in San Francisco has made me more of a homebody. There are more weekends in, more hours spent perfecting my pies, and more days dreaming up new desserts. Adventure no longer comes in the form of seeking out new restaurants and bakeries; instead, it comes from reading about ones from far away places, both foreign and familiar, and trying to recreate them at home.
These passionfruit donuts are one such example. I first read about Leonard Bakery's malasadas in one of the earlier issues of Lucky Peach a couple years ago. If you're unfamiliar with malasadas, they're basically Hawaiian donuts — they don't have a traditional hole, and are originally based on a Portuguese donut recipe. Although the first malasadas were just rolled in sugar, Leonard's also offered ones filled with different custards and curds made from coconuts, pineapples, and passionfruit. Each of Lenny's malasadas is made to order, and the article described them as light and crisp pillows that melted in your mouth.
After reading the article and knowing I wasn't going to make it to Hawaii any time soon, I went ahead and tried the malasada recipe in Lucky Peach (adapted by Momofuku Milk Bar's Christina Tosi, no less). But somewhere along the line, I tripped and ended up with malasada donut holes instead. Tasty, sure, but not quite the real thing.
This recipe, however, strikes a little closer to the mark. These donuts are not only the right size, but they do indeed taste as promised: light, crisp, and melt-in-your-mouthy. It definitely helped that, for the first time in my donut making career, I was actually able to evenly fry the donuts! Each donut came out of the fryer in the perfect shade of gold, mostly thanks to my shiny new copper core All-Clad pots (seriously, copper core cookware rocks — check out the notes below)! I immediately filled each freshly fried, still-warm donut with the tangy and creamy passionfruit curd I'd prepared beforehand. The contrast between the warm dough and the cool curd was heavenly. Before I realized it, I'd eaten three in one sitting. If that isn't a good donut, I don't know what is.
Thank you to All-Clad for sponsoring this post by providing me with the All-Clad TK pots and pans that I used to make the donuts in this post. The great Chef Thomas Keller of French Laundry and Per Se fame actually helped design the pots himself! In particular, I loved the copper core of the stainless steel pots and pans I received. Stainless steel pots are great in the kitchen because they're durable and can take a beating, but they can also have a reputation for uneven, spotty heat distribution. All copper pots are kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum — they are extremely conductive and transfer heat evenly, but are a pain in the butt to maintain. Stainless steel pots with a copper core end up with the best of both worlds — durable and easy to clean, with the ability to heat up quickly and evenly. Check out the full All-Clad TK collection, but be sure to read the specs — only some of the pots and pans have a copper core.
As always, all the thoughts and opinions expressed just now are mine and mine alone. I just really like my sponsors! Thank you for supporting Hummingbird High and all the folks who make it possible for me to bring you guys all the baked goods.
featured:
all-clad tk 2/3-quart copper core sauce pot || crate and barrel irish coffee mug || ikea tekla dish towel || sur la table italian lace salad plate (no longer available, sadly) || sur la table salt spoon || crate and barrel bread and butter plate || riess pesca porcelain baking pan || taylor candy/deep-fry thermometer || all-clad tk 3-quart copper core sautoir pot || sur la table oil and vinegar tray
Some baker's notes:
- You can use either fresh passionfruit juice (with the seeds strained out) or frozen passionfruit puree in this recipe. Fresh passionfruit was a little hard for me to source, but I would occasionally (and rather randomly) see it at major supermarkets like Whole Foods and even Safeway. You can also use passionfruit puree, which can be found in the frozen section of Latin American markets or even online (but for a much steeper price). Whatever you do though, don't use artificial/shelf-stable passionfruit juice. They put a ton of extra sweetener and artificial preservatives in there that'll just ruin your curd.
- Plan ahead for this one! You should make the passionfruit curd first so that it's ready to go when the donuts are fresh and warm; the curd keeps in a airtight glass jar for up to two weeks. The dough works best if you make it ahead of time and let it chill overnight in the fridge — you end up with prettier donuts that keep their shape!
Available link for download
Monday, February 27, 2017
Passionfruit and Cream Cheese Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs
Passionfruit and Cream Cheese Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs
Happy Friday everyone! Life has been so crazy and hectic lately Im really pleased that its a long bank holiday weekend. Theres lots planned for the weekend but at least I get to have a lie in and hopefully a chance to bake a few Easter themed treats. I saw this recipe on pinterest and immediately bookmarked it. Last year I baked chocolate easter eggs with a twist which I also baked back in 2012 so I wanted something a little different this year. This recipe was perfect as its a really quick and easy no bake treat which looks very impressive.
You need to get hollow easter eggs - larger eggs will be easier to work with as you can just spoon the filling in. I bought these mini eggs so I used a piping bag to fill the eggs. The cheesecake mixture is really quick and easy to make and tastes great on its own. My favourite part is the yolk which is a passionfruit and apricot curd. I also made some chocolate spoons to go with the eggs using my chocolate spoon mould.
Im sending this to a few blog challenges this month.
Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Eplorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Hello Spring.
Tea Time Treats hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Jane from The Hedgecombers. The theme this month is Chocolate!
We Should Cocoa hosted by Choclette from Tin and Thyme. The theme this month is No Bake which is really fortuituous as I made these before finding out what the challenge was for this month.
The Biscuit Barrel Challenge which is guest hosted by Alexandra from The Lass in the Apron on behalf of Laura from Id Much Rather Bake Than... The theme this month is candy so Im hoping that these ready made easter eggs will count!
Food Year Link Up hosted by Charlotte from My Recipe Book.
Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too
Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes. I bookmarked this as soon as I saw it and patiently waited until Easter to try it out.
Lets Cook for Easter hosted by Nayna from Simply Food.
chocolate spoon moul, cream cheese, double cream, apricot jam, butter, passionfruit and mini chocolate eggs 
making the yolk (This is a double recipe which is why the amount looks more than stated) 
cut the tops of the chocolate eggs. I left the foil wrapping on so that the eggs dont melt into the container and make a mess. Plus its quite nice unwrapping the egg and eating it. I used a quails egg tray to hold the eggs. If you have larger eggs then a regular egg carton should suffice. 
Fill with cheesecake filling 
Pipe the egg yolk on top 
This is a half filled chocolate egg (well one that I broke but waste not want not) Happy Easter! Recipe from raspberri cupcakes
Makes enough to fill 18 mini eggs plus extra to eat
For the cream cheese filling
150g cream cheese
30g icing sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
125mls double cream
For the egg yolk
1 passionfruit - sliced and sieved to get the juice only
1 tablespoon apricot jam
15g butter
For the chocolate spoon (optional)
chocolate from the tops of the chocolate eggs
approximately 75g milk chocolate
- Prepare the chocolate eggs by peeling off the top bit of foil and cutting the tops off with a sharp knife.
- Place the eggs in a suitable tray and place in the fridge.
- (I melted the tops of the chocolate eggs plus some extra chocolate to make my chocolate spoons so there was no wastage)
- Make the egg yolk by placing the pasionfruit juice, apricot jam and butter in a small saucepan over a low heat.
- Whisk continuously until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Allow to cool completely then place in the fridge to set.
- Now make the cream cheese filling by placing the cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and beating until its smooth and fluffy.
- Beat the cream in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form.
- Scoop the beaten cream into the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth.
- Place the cream cheese mixture in a piping bag and pipe into the chocolate shells.
- Place in the fridge to set for about 15-20 minutes.
- Place the chilled egg yolk mixture in a piping bag and pipe on top of each filled egg.
Available link for download
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