COOK'S CLASS

PASSIONFRUIT PUDDING

Fresh passionfruit, with its haunting flavour and elusive fragrance, elevates this quick and simple pudding above the ordinary. Served hot or at room or at room temperature, it makes a light and refreshing ending to an autumn dinner. In summer it is exquisite served chilled. 

This is a delicate dessert, not spectacular to look at, but  the taste and texture - fluffy sponge on the top, a creamy sauce below - are superb. However, it should have a foil of something well chilled, such as a dollop of luscious mascapone, Greek-style yoghurt, thick cream or ice-cream. A spoonful of the fresh passionfruit pulp will enhance the pudding even further.

INGREDIENTS:
3 level tablespoons cake flour
125 g sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
4 tablespoons fresh passionfruit pulp (you will need about 4 passionfruit)
2 eggs, separated
250 ml milk
Serves 4

You wil need: grater or zester, 2 mixing bowls, wooden spoon, balloon whisk or electric beater, spatula or metal spoon, sifter , scales, shallow 20 cm oven dish (or 4-6 small, individual pots), shallow pan large enough to hold oven dish, metal skewer.

STAGE 1:
Preheat oven to 160°C. In a mixing bowl, combine sifted flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest.

Do not be concerned at the small quantity of flour and use level tablespoons, as too much flour will thicken the mixture and prevent it from separating into the sponge and custard layers.

When grating a lemon only use the peel, never the thick white pith.

 

STAGE 2:
Add passionfruit pulp and mix thoroughly.

Whenever possible use fresh passionfruit pulp, which is tart and balances the sugar. Where it is not available, use 2 tablespoons canned passionfruit pulp combined with 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice.

Beat in egg yolks, one by one, beating thoroughly after each addition to incorporate air.

Stir in milk. 

 

 

STAGE 3:
Before beating the whites, be sure that your beaters and bowls are bone dry and spotless, otherwise the whites will never stiffen.

Whisk whites until they hold a soft shape, not grainy and fold into batter using a spatula or a metal spoon. 

 

 

STAGE 4
Pour into a shallow, buttered, 20 cm ovenware dish or individual pots and bake standing in a bain-marie at 160°C for 1 hour. 

A bain-marie is essentially a shallow pan, half filled with warm water. It allows the pudding to cook slowly and evenly by surrounding it with a gentle heat.

Test with a metal skewer - the pudding should have separated into layers with sponge on the top and custard on the bottom.

Serve warm with spoonfuls of well-chilled cream.