Sunday 10 April 2011

Passion Fruit Curd Tart

Never let it be said that baking is a stress-free hobby. Passion fruit curd making is distinctly stressful. For nearly five minutes you stand whisking a bright orange watery liquid on an almost negligible heat, so you turn it up just a smidge, then all of a sudden the colour changes to sunny yellow, the curd thickens rapidly and you’re terrified your curd is curdled and your sore hand from 30+ minutes of squeezing and straining passion fruits will all have been in vain. Pheeew.DSCF8566 Thankfully today I got the curd just at the right time. And oh, the results were good. I love passion fruits. As soon as you cut one in half their super sweet, fresh, summery aroma is released. The orange pulp is sweet yet sharp and the black seeds are a shot of crunch. Even the inedible skin is beautiful with its deep purpley/pink colour. They are the perfect fruit for welcoming in the summer sunshine and their name is well deserved.DSCF8565 I wanted to make a passion fruit curd tart after sampling the individual ones with meringue from top London bakery Ottolenghi. Despite owning the Ottolenghi book the recipe was not to be found – its kept top secret because the tarts are so popular! After a little searching around, I found a Waitrose recipe that I felt would work. My tart doesn’t have meringue – to save both time and calories – and I made one large one to use a new tart pan. Also, the curd is not cooked again once being added to the tart so it stays delightfully creamy and soft. DSCF8576 As I’ve mentioned – I did not enjoy juicing and straining 12 passion fruit. Mine were not hugely ripe so this may have been a factor but I found I spent a long time pushing every last drop of juice away from the pips and through the sieve, so as not to waste any and make as much juice as possible. If you are less concerned about waste you could use more passion fruit or perhaps riper ones would yield more juice easily. Overall, I very much enjoyed the end result of this tart. The lemon pastry adds an extra dimension of summery fruitiness and the passion fruit curd was smooth, buttery and full of that distinctive passion fruit zing. The best part? This tart needs no accompaniments. Armed with a (generous)slice, a fork and a chair in the sunshine I was extremely happy. Enjoy :)

9 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

You are right! Baking is a hobby that isn't entirely stree-free... ,-P

That tart must taste divine! I love curd and passiofruit.

Cheers,

Rosa

Nisrine M. said...

Oh yum, Lucy. This is an amazing tart filling. I love passion fruit desserts.

The Caked Crusader said...

As someone who gets very stressed at certain times when baking i have to say your post made me smile - it perfectly captures that fine line we all walk between pleasure and pain!
Luckily, your tart looks amazing - the pastry is lovely and thin too, you did a great job

Dewi said...

Oh my, I envy you to be able to get passion fruit in England. It's so hard to find it here in my neighborhood. Even if they have it, it will cost a fortune to buy it. I am sure your tart tastes divine!

Xinmei @ Pudding Pie Lane said...

I agree - baking can be so stressful! I started because I wanted to destress but then I just get stressed trying to juggle revision and blogging and baking, which I guess you have to aswell!

You tart looks very yummu by the way, where did you get the passion fruit from? I can't find it in Sainsburys, but maybe mine's just too small...

Also, just wanted to say fruit curd tarts are so addictive, I've not bought a jar of lemon curd after making a lemon tart just so I can eat it out of the jar :D

Lucy said...

Hi Xinmei - funny you should say that as my passion fruits were from Sainsbury's! Often I find they don't have them though, so I don't think they always have them. I often find them in Waitrose instead - hope this helps!

Juliana said...

I love passion fruit...the tart looks delicious, so creamy and so tasty. Have a good one :-)

Choclette said...

Passion fruit curd sounds delicious and your tart looks lovely. I made lime curd at the weekend so understand your pain. Was wondering what I was going to do with it - think you might have solved my problem :)

Anne said...

Yeesh, I wouldn't fancy all that squeezing and straining either, but the end result certainly looks tasty!