Australia Day Passion

.....passionfruit that is! It's the height of the season & they are spectacular. Ripe, plump, juicy, sweet, highly perfumed & only $2.99 for a bag of 12. MOTH & I have had many a pleasure over the kitchen sink this past week, slurping away at as many passionfruit as our tummies will allow. So because I'm passionate about our amazing country, I thought I'd celebrate this special day with the joys of passionfruit & the Banana & Passionfruit Curd Pavlova is on the menu here at The Hedge today.

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!

Passionfruit Yo-Yos with White Chocolate and Passionfruit Ganache

Makes 24
Yo-yos
180 gm. butter, softened
90 gm. pure icing (powdered) sugar
80 mls. (1/3 cup) passionfruit juice (see note)
225 gm. (1½ cups) plain flour

100 gm. (2/3 cup) cornflour (cornstarch)
White chocolate and passionfruit ganache
90 mls. pouring cream
45 mls. passionfruit juice (see note)
2 pieces lemon rind removed with a peeler
180 gms. white chocolate finely chopped

1. For the ganache, combine cream, juice and rind in a saucepan and bring just to the boil over medium-high heat. Place chocolate in a bowl, strain over hot cream mixture, whisk until smooth and refrigerate for 4 hours or until thick.

2.Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, add juice and combine. Add flours and mix until just combined, then turn onto a floured surface, form into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

3.Preheat oven to 180C. Roll out pastry to 8mm thick and, using a 3cm-diameter cutter, cut rounds from pastry and place on baking paper-lined oven trays. Press scraps into a ball, re-roll and repeat. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until just golden, cool on trays for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

4.Spread half the biscuits with a teaspoon each of ganache, sandwich with remaining biscuits and stand until set. Uniced yo-yos will keep for up to 1 week in an airtight container.

Note: To make passionfruit juice, blend passionfruit pulp in a food processor to crack seeds, then strain through a fine sieve. Twelve passionfruit yield about 1 cup of juice.

Lemonade and Passionfruit Icy Poles (Popsicles)

Makes 12
500 mls. (2 cups) Traditional Lemonade (Schweppes) or Bitter Lemon soft drink (Soda)
12 iceblock (popsicle) sticks
12 passionfruit, pulp only
1 vanilla bean, coarsely chopped
200 mls. sugar syrup (see note)
2 limes, juice only

1.Divide lemonade among twelve ½-cup capacity dariole moulds or disposable cups and stand for 10 minutes to allow bubbles to subside. Place on a tray and freeze for 2-3 hours, then insert an iceblock stick into each one and freeze overnight.

2.In a food processor process the passionfruit pulp and vanilla bean to crack passionfruit seeds, then pass through a fine sieve into a bowl, discarding solids. Measure 210mls. of passionfruit juice and combine with sugar syrup, lime juice and 2/3 cup water. Refrigerate until cold, then divide among moulds or cups with lemonade and freeze overnight. Unmould and serve.

Note: To make sugar syrup, combine an equal quantity of sugar and water in a saucepan and boil for 1 minute. One cup each of sugar and water will make 1½ cups sugar syrup which will keep indefinitely refrigerated in a sterile container.

Banana and Passionfruit Curd Pavlova

Serves 8

2 teaspoons cornflour (cornstarch), plus extra for dusting
6 eggs, separated (& yolks reserved for passionfruit curd)
2 egg whites
330 gms. (1 1/2 cups) caster sugar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
2 bananas, thinly sliced

Melted butter for brushing
To serve:
pulp of 2-3 passionfruits
Passionfruit curd
250 mls. passionfruit pulp (about 12 passionfruit)
55 gms. (1/4 cup) caster sugar
150 gms. salted butter softened & coarsely chopped
300 mls. thickened cream

1.Preheat oven to 120C. Line two oven trays with foil. Brush with melted butter, dust with cornflour, shake off excess and set aside.

2. Whisk eggwhites in an electric mixer until soft peaks form, gradually adding sugar until thick and glossy and sugar dissolves (4-5 minutes). Add cornflour and vinegar, whisking until just combined. Spread half the meringue into a 19cm x 28cm rectangle on one lined oven tray and smooth top with a palette knife. Repeat with remaining meringue on other tray and loosely peak top. Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 100C and bake until meringue is dry and cracks when lightly pressed (30 minutes). Turn off oven and cool in oven with door ajar.

3. Meanwhile, for the passionfruit curd, process pulp in a food processor to release pulp from seeds, then strain through a fine strainer to yield 250ml juice. Transfer to a heatproof bowl, add reserved egg yolks, sugar and butter, whisk to combine. Stir continuously over a saucepan of simmering water until thickened (3-5 minutes). Cover with plastic wrap, set aside to cool, then refrigerate until firm (2-3 hrs).

4. Lay banana slices on top of flat meringue. Whisk cream until soft peaks form, then fold in curd and spoon mixture over meringue base. Top with remaining meringue and serve drizzled with extra passionfruit pulp.

Passionfruit Semifreddo

Serves 10

8 egg yolks
250 gms. caster sugar
250 mls. (1 cup) passionfruit juice (see note)
scraped seeds of 1 vanilla bean
juice of 1 lime
300gms. double cream
150mls. pouring cream, lightly whipped
pulp of 2 passionfruit, plus extra to serve

1. Whisk egg yolks in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy (5-7 minutes). Meanwhile, stir sugar, passionfruit juice and vanilla seeds in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, then simmer until syrupy (4-5 minutes) and add to egg yolks with lime juice, whisking continuously until mixture is cold (5-6 minutes).

2. Combine creams in a bowl, whisk until soft peaks form. Fold into passionfruit mixture, fold in pulp, spoon into an 8cm x 22cm plastic-lined rectangular cake tin, smoothing top (there may be mixture left over), freeze overnight until firm. Slice thickly and serve with extra pulp spooned over.

Note: To extract passionfruit juice, process pulp in a food processor, then strain through a sieve (discard solids). Eighteen passionfruit yield about 250ml juice.

Matt Moran's Baked Passionfruit Tartlets

Serves 6

Filling:
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
150 gms. caster sugar
150mls. pouring cream
200mls. strained passionfruit pulp, from about 20-30 passionfruit
icing (powdered) sugar to serve

Sweet Pastry:
225gms. unsalted butter
100gms. icing (powdered) sugar
375 gms. (2½ cups) plain (all purpose) flour
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

1. For the pastry, mix the butter, sugar and flour in a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. With the motor running, add the egg and combine until a dough forms. Wrap in plastic wrap and allow to rest for 2 hours in the refrigerator.

2. Preheat the oven to 160C. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to 3mm thick and use to line six 8cm-diameter tart tins, then place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Line pastry-lined tins with baking paper, then fill with pastry weights, dried chickpeas or rice, and blind-bake for 15 minutes. Remove weights and bake for another 5 minutes or until golden. While still warm, fill any cracks with leftover pastry, then brush the insides of the tartlet shells with the beaten egg yolk and return to the oven for 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

3. Reduce the oven temperature to 120C. To make the filling, lightly mix together the eggs, egg yolk and caster sugar in a bowl until sugar has dissolved. Stir in the cream and passionfruit juice and then strain through a fine sieve into a jug. Pour the filling into the tartlet shells and bake for 10-15 minutes or until just set – the filling should still wobble slightly in the centre. Leave to cool to room temperature.

4. Just before serving, dust the tarts with icing sugar and caramelise with a blowtorch or under a very hot grill.

Images & recipes: Gourmet Traveller