bake - April 2016 - 16

ingredients

A Passion for Passion Fruit
Although not as widely known as tropical fruits like the mango
or papaya, passion fruit lives up to its name because customers
absolutely love the taste once they try it.
Passion fruit is shaped like an egg and covered in a thick, hard
shell that is deeply wrinkled when ripe. The aromatic, jelly-like
golden ﬂesh is sweet-tart in ﬂavor and ﬁlled with edible seeds,
according to Melissa's/World Variety Product. New Zealand
passion fruit is purple, while the Hawaiian variety is yellow.
Passion fruit is generally eaten fresh but may be cooked for
use in sauces and ﬁllings. This tropical fruit adds a distinctively
appealing ﬂavor and texture to pastry desserts. One simple example is to make passion fruit tartlets by adding the pulp and
seeds directly onto the tartlets before serving.
To use passion fruit in fresh form, simply halve the fruit and scoop
out the pulp and seeds with a spoon. Choose fragrant, shriveled,
wrinkled fruit that is rich in color, according to Melissa's. If the skin
is smooth, ripen at room temperature and turn occasionally. Fruit
may then be refrigerated in a plastic bag for up to a few days or
frozen for longer storage without any loss of quality.
Passion fruit is catching on at many of the top dessert destinations in the country. One example can be found in Denver,
Colorado. Keegan Gerhard is the chef and owner of D Bar
Restaurant in Denver, where he gains widespread notoriety for
pushing the envelope with new ﬂavor sensations. One ex-

Since ancient times, passion fruit has been cultivated and

ample on the current dessert menu at D Bar is the Passionut,

enjoyed because of the boost to the immune system that it

a dreamy dessert that celebrates all things passion fruit. Start

seemed to provide, according to Organic Facts. Although this

with passion fruit panna cotta and follow with passion cara-

was unknown to most people until modern times, this immune

mel ganache, hazelnut crumble and Guittard 64% chocolate

strengthening property was due to the presence of vitamin C

mousse. Finish with hazelnut ﬁnacier, passion fruit sorbet and

and carotene. A single serving of passion fruit has more than

candied hazelnut.

100 percent of the total required intake of vitamin C, according
to Organic Facts.

Gerhard says one of his favorite desserts is passion fruit curd.
At one restaurant show a few years back at PreGel's booth,

Passion fruit is grown in nearly any warm climate in the world

Gerhard demonstrated how to make Chocolate Passion Verrine

that is frost-free. This includes the South Paciﬁc, Central Amer-

with passion fruit curd, chocolate crumble, chocolate ganache

ica, the Middle East, the Mediterranean and various subtropical

and chocolate mousse. The pastry chef offered insights into

locations throughout the world. According to California Rare

balancing three textures of chocolate with two textures of pas-

Fruit Growers, there are cultivars that can take temperatures

sion fruit to create a taste sensation that is out of this world.

into the upper 20s (F) without serious damage. The plant is

"Visually, it's appealing. Texture, it's different. Flavor, it's abso-

widely grown in California as far north as San Jose, the Mon-

lutely delicious."

terey Bay area and San Francisco.

16 < APR 2016 | bakemag.com

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bake - April 2016

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