Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Passion Fruit Custard Cakes



I love custard. I love souffles. This is a wonderful something in between. The top is a fluffy, moist cake and the bottom is a creamy liquid custard.

Custard cakes are the latest delight I've discovered in my quest to create the perfect passion fruit dessert. I whipped these up on a Sunday for a barbecue. I didn't have enough granulated sugar so I used powdered and adjusted the amounts accordingly. The light and pucker-up tart results were a huge hit with my family. I will say that the other couple and their children who tried them were not super enthusiastic. Even with a generous topping of whipped cream, the cakes are very tart and intensely passion fruit flavored--probably not the best thing to serve in strictly chocoholic circles. Fruity dessert lovers take notice: my husband, my sister and I had a near brawl over the extra ramekin. YUM!


3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/4 cup all purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1 1/3 cups whole milk
3 large eggs, separated
1/3 cup thawed passion fruit concentrate or passion fruit pulp
1 tablespoons finely grated lime zest

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter eight 3/4-cup ramekins or custard cups. Whisk 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, flour, and pinch of salt in medium bowl to blend. Combine milk, egg yolks, passion fruit concentrate and lime zest in large bowl; whisk until blended. Add flour mixture to yolk mixture and whisk custard until blended. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in another large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar to whites and beat until stiff but not dry. Fold 1/4 of whites into custard. Fold remaining whites into custard in 2 additions (custard will be slightly runny).

Divide custard equally among prepared ramekins. Place ramekins in large roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into pan to come halfway up sides of ramekins. Bake custard cakes until golden brown and set on top (custard cakes will be slightly soft in center), about 27 minutes. Chill custard cakes uncovered until cold, at least 4 hours, then cover and keep refrigerated. Custard cakes can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Serve with whipped cream.

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