Passion (for) fruit

Passion fruit, also known as Granadilla or Maracujá, depending on country of its origin, gives such a wonderful touch to desserts and drinks! As many of the exotic fruit kinds, passion fruit at the Swedish food stores is always available, unfortunately, quality of the fruit that has crossed oceans before it got here, varies. I was lucky and got some really wonderful passion fruits - in size of a small lemon, full of juice and flavor. 

Now that my "dessert period" is at its end (I make and believe this statement regularly - every Monday :)) I want to share a recipe on passion fruit pie. Once again, I found it amusing to experiment and didn't follow any recipe which means that there are things that you can make better in case you'll find it interesting enough to test and try. It is a no-bake dessert, well, if we don't consider the digestive crust visiting oven for 10 minutes. 

Passion fruit pie

You need:
for the crust:
digestives (I used approx. 2 digestives per portion, made 5 portions)
butter, melted (40-50 g for about 10 digestives)
1 tsp ginger (optional)

for the filling:
1 can coconut milk (400 ml) or a coconut cream (I reduced the watery part of the coconut milk to a half which turned out as a smart move)
4 gelatine sheets (I used Dr. Oetker gelatine sheets that recommend using 3 sheets per 2 dl fluid)
3 Tbsp sugar
3 small or 2 big passion fruits 

heavy cream (36% fat) to serve with and 1 passion fruit for decorating


Method:
1. Crush the digestives - the best way to do this is to use a food processor. Mix the crushed digestives with melted butter (and ginger). Press the mixture into the pie pan or individual pie molds. Bake at 180 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. Cool down completely.
2. Place the gelatine sheets in a bowl with cold water for 5 - 10 minutes.
3. For the filling, put the coconut milk (reduce the water first) in a pan. Add sugar and the spoon out the passion fruits. Heat up until it almost boils. Remove from the heat. Squeeze out water from the gelatine sheets and dissolve them one by one in the warm mixture. Let cool  for a while and pour on the prepared crust. Place in the fridge over night or for at least 4 hours. 
4. Serve with a table spoon of cream and some more passion fruit.


To make it better: Sieve the coconut-passion fruit mixture before using it to get a rid of the fruit seeds. You can add some lime zest to the mixture as well. I added lime juice but it made the mixture a little too watery.

Express feel good dessert

Fresh figs! Very exotic. Very challenging. And a perfect picture object. I don't think that these figs would win a beauty or taste contest worldwide, but they definitely won today in my kitchen :) My philosophy of a perfect one-minute dessert comes right here:

You'll need: Mediterranean style yoghurt / Turkish, Greek etc., fresh figs, maple syrup. Done!

Lovely individual lime pies

We had a family gathering today. Preparing dinner for 6 people went just fine once I made my mind up about what to make. When the table was set, I had totally forgotten to photograph but I think I made a nice meal and everyone seemed to like it. We had roasted chicken breasts, fresh fettuccine with salvia and lemon-lime dressing, sallad, fried sugar peas and cold avocado-lime-sour cream sauce. Yummie :)
For dessert I made these tiny lime pies. I just love individual desserts when I can slip cutting and measuring so that each portion looks the same..You have certainly heard of a Key Lime Pie dessert. One of my absolute favorites! I have made it before but this was the first time I sieved the filling to get a rid of the lime zest. I couldn't make a better decision! The filling came out so smooth in both texture and flavor. Highly recommended!

Individual lime pies

Ingredients: (makes about 16 small sized pies)
about 180 g Digestives
100 g butter
1 tea spoon dried ginger
small aluminium cups
1 can sweetened condensed milk
juice and zest of 3 limes
3 egg yolks
(whipping cream and lime+zest for decorating)

Method:
1. Set the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Mix the crushed Digestives and the ginger spice with the melted butter. Line the aluminium cups with the mixture, just like when making a pie crust. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and let cool.
3. Mix the sweetened condesed milk with the juice and zest of 3 limes. Add the egg yolks and mix until it comes together.
4. Let the mixture drag the lime flavor for about 30 to 60 minutes. Seive and toss the lime zest.
5. Fill the prebaked crusts with the lime filling and baked for about 15 to 20 minutes. The baking time depends on the size of the pies.
6. Let cool completely, preferably in the fridge.
7. Before serving, remove the aluminium cups carefully. Serve with a whipping cream flavored with lime zest.

Pearspotting :)

 

Pears, pears and more pears. These last few days I've been hooked on pears, you might have noticed :) I know, it's so not their season this time a year but..It started when I was making oven baked root vegetables. I thought that it wouldn't hurt mixing pears with carrots, parsnips, potatoes and red onions. And yesterday. Avocado&pear kidney bean salsa for lunch. Today I was searching for a pear dessert recipe and found loads of them that I plan to try. The first one makes itself in the oven, just what I need when I'm preparing for an exam.

Baked pear with cinnamon&ginger butter

Ingredients: (2 servings)

1 pear (I used Conference)
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ginger spice
1 tbsp muscovado sugar
 tin foil
 hasselnuts (or almonds, walnuts, pecans..)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Cut the pear diagonally and remove the core, leaving a scoop in the middle.
3. Mix together butter, sugar and spices. Spoon the mixture in the scoop.
4. Place each pear half on a separate square of tin foil, scooped side up, and wrap so that it does not leave any opening.
5. Bake for about 45 minutes.

Spiced butter together with sugar and pear juice make a wonderful syrup. Serve with toasted nuts and creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream.

White chocolate and vanilla bean panna cotta with mashed raspberries

After what seems like ages, it's panna cotta time! I couldn't resist the temptation of making one as I was salivating through the latest Daring Bakers' challenge on Tastespotting.
This panna cotta is my favorite for two reasons: 1. No added sugar and 2. (rasp)Berries!
I'm stuck in the heavenly combination of white chocolate dissolved in heavy cream and topped with the freshness of juicy raspberries.

I only dare to make this dessert either on special occassions or when i know that there is a chance for hours of sweating at the gym! And never more often than once-twice a year :)) It's highly addictive!

White chocolate and vanilla bean panna cotta with mashed raspberries

Ingredients: (2 servings)
2,5 dl heavy cream
50 g white chocolate
2 gelatine sheets
a pinch of vanilla bean powder
about 100-150 g raspberries
(sugar)

Method:
1. Put the gelatine sheets in a cold water and let them soak for about 10 minutes.
2. Heat up the heavy cream and remove from the heat when it starts simmering (do not cook).
3. Squeeze water out of the sheets of gelatine and stir so that it dissolves in the heavy cream.
4. Add the chopped white chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Add vanilla bean powder (and some sugar if you like).
5. Pour into a serving bowles and refrigirate for about 4 hours.
6. Before serving, mash the raspberries and spoon them on the top of the panna cotta.

Almost tiramisu :)

I call this dessert (almost) tiramisu even though I know it's thousands of miles far from the classical one. I bet that the Italians are pretty selective with what should and what shouldn't be called Tiramisu. There certainly are a number of "rules" to follow when making tiramisu, as using espresso for instance - not just any kind of coffee and most preferably an Italian brand like Lavazza, Illy, Cello etc. Using raw eggs is another rule and most importantly, Mascarpone.

My "tiramisu" doesn't tick a single box of these rules but let's face it, if I think of it as of "almost tiramisu", who's to be hurt? :)
For those who suffer from lactose intolerance, is Mascarpone no option. At least I haven't been able to find a lactose-free one here in Sweden. I use a lactose free variant of "kvarg" instead, cream curd (jemny tvaroh in Slovak). It's delicious, light (only about 1% fat) and as close to Mascarpone as I could come.

When not following the rules, I can just as well be consistent about it and break the rest of them too: used neither Cognac nor Brandy. Instead I chose cacao liqueur which I think corresponds well with the cocoa powder decoration. At this point I must say that the best tiramisu I've ever had was a variant made with Baileys. Heavenly good.
As they say, "there aren't two tiramisu that taste the same", so why not experiment a little and make one that you can label as "your own"? Do any of you have some special "tiramisu tricks" you are willing to share?

Almost tiramisu:

Ingredients: (makes about 6 servings)

savoiardi lady fingers (about 18-20 pieces)

500 g light cream curd  

1 cup espresso

2 shots cacao liqueur

vanilla sugar (or sugar and vanilla powder)

cocoa powder

Method:

1. Make the espresso and let cool to a room temperature. Pour it into a shallow bowl and add the cocoa liqueur. 

2. Dip the savoiardi in the espresso (both sides) and place one by one in a rectangular bowl.

3. Mix the curd with sugar and vanilla and spread a half of it on the savoiardi.

4. Make another layer of espresso savoiardi and cover with the rest of the curd.

5. Place in the fridge for a couple of hours. Sprinkle the cocoa powder on top before serving. Enjoy!

A as in avocado

I didn't know the taste of avocado until I was about 25 years old. We were having dinner with friends in a cosy mexican restaurant in Prague and had guacamole among the dishes we ordered. I remember there was a "mexican" restaurant in my home town Nitra, but I don't remember anything made of avocado on the menu! :) Today avocado is a often on my menu. My two favorite recipes, a soup and a dessert with avocado, follow:

Avocado soup with lime and chilli

Ingredients: (makes about 3 portions)
2 avocados
1/2 liter vegetable stock
1 lime, juiced
1 clove of garlic (optional)
chillipepper (fresh or dried)
sea salt

Method:
1. Cut the avocados in half and remove the pits. Spoon the avocados into a blender and puree together with a little bit of the semi-cold vegetable stock.
2. Add chilli, lime juice, garlic and the remaining vegetable stock. Blend until smooth.
3. Season with sea salt and serve.

Trust me, it's wonderful. I make this soup very often and I never get tired of it :)

Recipe adapted from 500 soppor, den enda bok med soppor du behöver by Susannah Blake.

Avocado mousse

 Avocado in a dessert? Oh my, it's so surprisingly good! I can only recommend because even Andreas, who is not an avocado fan, liked it!

Ingredients: (makes 2 portions)
1 avocado
zest and juice of 1/2 lime
100 ml heavy cream
2 tbsp light muscovado sugar

Method:
1. Cut the avocado in half, remove the seed and peel. Mix the avocado together with the sugar, lime juice and zest until smooth. Use a handheld blender.
2. Whip the heavy cream and blend it into the avocado mix.
3. Cool for about 2 hours before serving. Yummie! :)

Recipe adapted from Höstens goda mat, Ica Kvantum.

Chocolate brandy coffee cups

A real chocolate treat for grown ups :) 

I love making chocolate cups and candy at home. Playing with flavours and ingredients makes a different result every time..

The combination of chocolate, whip cream, brandy and coffee just melts in your mouth. So easy and so delicious!

As promised, the recipe is extremely easy:

Ingredients: (makes about 20-25 mini chocolate cups)
140 ml whip cream (heavy cream)
100 g chocolate (70% cacao)
1-2 tbsp brandy
1 tsp instant coffee
1 egg yolk
15 g unsalted butter

Method:
1. Cut the chocolate into ground pieces.
2. Heat up the whip cream in a sauce pan, do not bring to boil.
3. Remove from heat, add the chocolate and mix until melted.
4. Add the brandy, instant coffee, egg yolk and mix until smooth.
5. Mix the butter into the chocolate cream.
6. Fill small candy cups with the chocolate mix and cool for a couple of hours in the fridge.

The chocolate mix will retain a slightly soft consistence so it works perfectly well to use mocha cups instead of these aluminium cups. It will make a wonderful dessert!

Enjoy!